


Revan

by LadyoftheNight



Series: Knights of the Old Republic [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, Homecoming, Shameless
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-22
Updated: 2013-08-30
Packaged: 2017-12-06 01:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 54,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/730280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyoftheNight/pseuds/LadyoftheNight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My take on how the book Revan by Drew Karpyshyn would have gone had Revan been a lightside female.<br/>Note: I'm reworking this!  My writing has grown in three years, figured I'd fix this up.  So far, through ch. 5 is done.  As I change stuff, I'm replacing Meetra Surik with Mirah Thon, my actual Exile.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing!  
> As it is female Revan, Carth and therefore Dustil and all the others have a bigger role.

_The lush jungle blended into a cold city, frigid not in weather but in the way beings treated one another. Shadows of figures she knew but could not place slipped by, fading into greater bits of darkness thrown around her by imposing buildings. She felt like a caged beast, ready to claw her way out but entirely lost on how to do so._

_Someone was at her back, and while she knew she needed them, there was also a rift between them. That didn’t feel right. They should have been close. Something happened, something she led them to._

_But that didn’t matter right now. She had a plan that had to be enacted immediately, or millions would die. The Republic was too weak to withstand a war with-_

 

            Revan woke drenched in a cold sweat. The answer had been so close this time, the dream just short of telling her whom she had feared so much to fall so far, to claim the title of Darth and take the Republic for her own. Sadly, just like every other night over the past couple weeks, the vision broke before any true memory returned.

            She took some small comfort in the steadiness of the apartment and planet around her. As with any other Coruscanti night, there was a steady hum of speeder traffic, and as with any other night sleeping next to Carth Onasi, there was an occasional, though loud, snore. Revan sat up in her bed, a smile creeping over her lips despite her exhaustion. His presence was a reminder she was not always trapped in her past, that she had something to look forward to every morning.

            Especially since their recent engagement. Carth, in typical Carth style, had done it at the absolutely most romantic moment, as Revan was covered in grease and dust and half wrapped around the hyperdrive of the _Ebon Hawk_.  

_“Revan?” A familiar voice called from the hallway of their ship, though he shouldn’t be back yet._

_“In here,” she responded, her frustration plain in her voice._

_Carth found the former Sith Lord stepping away from the hyperdrive core, a hydrospanner gripped in her hand like a knife. Her face looked like every other time she’d killed; determined, calm on the surface, but underneath a fury nobody could hope to match. There were times he was reminded, rather forcefully, just how deadly she could be. However, it no longer brought out his own fear or anger._

_Rather, it made him laugh._

_“Your lightsabers would do more damage.”_

_“You should still be on Citadel Station, though I can’t figure out why you’d want to meet Dustil there. The cantina is too new even to have food.” Her haughty glower never left the piece of the ship causing her so much trouble._

_“That was a quick meeting. He’s actually coming back to Coruscant…hopefully with us? He wants to be a Jedi.”_

_“Oh.” Now her eyes met his own, uncertainty dancing over her features._

_“That’s not a problem, is it?” Something gripped his stomach, tightening as he worried she would reject his son now._

_“No!” She was quick to respond, though slow to elaborate. “I just…what if he doesn’t like me?”_

_His laughter filled the small engine room again, but then he answered in all seriousness, “You helped him turn away from the Sith. I’ve also told him about us, and he was okay with it. Actually, he mentioned requesting you for a teacher.”_

_“That’s incredibly flattering.” Her features softened greatly, and she quickly stepped the few feet to kiss him._

_“That brings me to this.” Carth stepped back and held out his hand._

_In his palm rested a small silver band that bore no adornment, making him feel a more than a little guilty. Maybe he shouldn’t have bought that last blaster._

_Revan’s reaction told him it was more than enough. There were actual tears in her eyes, something he’d only seen once in all the time they’d known each other, and then it had been due to Bastila’s torture transferring across their bond._

_“Revan, gorgeous, will you marry me?”_

_“I guess so, hairless Wookiee.”_

_Despite her filthiness, they managed to properly celebrate in short order._

 

            But really, she wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

            The only problem that had come up in her new life was the Jedi Order, and no small problem it was. Bastila, Juhani, and Jolee had all rejoined, though the old man with no small amount of complaining, especially when given the rank of Master. The two women were now full Knights, and had their own duties and responsibilities. This was all fine, of course. The Council, however, was not. Officially, Revan had rejoined as a Jedi Knight, though she enjoyed only the minimal benefits that came with the title. She wasn’t even given a room in the Temple, as if the Masters were worried she’d corrupt the Younglings just by being near them.

            Still, Revan doubted she’d actually want to stay around all the other Jedi, even if she could. Also, the Council had forbidden her from taking on an apprentice, so Dustil had settled for Jolee. The two of them were getting along shockingly well, and when they were on Coruscant, Dustil came over to Carth and Revan’s apartment for dinner all the time. He and Mission were actually growing rather close too, something Carth couldn’t stop stressing about.

 

_“They’re kids, flyboy. They just won a war. Let them enjoy it, and if they want to enjoy it together, who are we to say no?”_

_“What if they break up, Revan?”_

_“Sh.”_

 

            Revan shook her head and carefully slipped out from under the covers. Slowly, as to not wake the sleeping lump in the room, she made her way to the refresher.

            Ever since the dreams of her past had started, she’d only been able to grab a couple hours of sleep a night. It was starting to show. Dark circles rested under her eyes, giving her the look of more of a tired old spacer rather than the intimidating Darth Revan.

            When Carth had asked her about it, she’d simply responded, “Bad dreams.”

            He’d known not to pry, but she could tell it was eating at him. It was distressing her too, but the only thing she could think of to do would be to talk to Bastila about it. Of all her friends, Bastila understood best what she’d been through, even still after their bond had begun to fade. The only problem was that the younger woman was offworld, and nobody would tell Revan when she was going to return.

            Revan leaned over the sink to toss some water in her face and pulled her dark hair into a ponytail. There was no point in attempting to sleep now. This was her new reality.

            Bypassing the bed and a broken promise of sleep, she made her way to the small balcony of the apartment, quiet as ever. Once there, with the door cracked slightly behind her, she settled into a typical Jedi meditation pose, one she’d done thousands of times over the course of her life.

 

            The sudden feeling of a blanket being settled over her shoulders broke her meditation. Without opening her eyes, she turned her head slightly and found her lover’s lips for a soft kiss.

            “Hey there, beautiful,” Carth murmured as he sat beside her.

            “Thank you, hairless Wookiee.” Revan opened her eyes now, giving him a light smile.

            “I have noticed how little you’ve been sleeping lately.” The concern in his eyes was pretty cute, which was only enhanced by him reaching over to brush a stray curl out of her face.     

            “Really? You weren’t snoring too loudly?” Her tone was the one he knew from their very first conversation as harmlessly joking.

            “What’s wrong, Revan?”

            Instead of answering right away, she turned to look at their rather spectacular view. Coruscant never changed, it seemed. War hadn’t touched it in years, not even when she led her own armies against the Republic centered here. Speeders zipped by exactly the way they had when she’d first arrived here, trailing her Master like a shadow, afraid of this new place that was so different from Dantooine.

            Now her fear was for the planet, not of it.

            “I don’t know.” Her answer was mostly truthful. “Sorry to wake you.”

            Instead of calming him, her words only seemed to fan that flame of anger he carried so closely.

            “I know you’ve got to have some idea. If you won’t talk to me about it, then someone will listen!” There was real pain in his eyes, pain she knew came from caring for her.

            “Who?” She remained calm, her voice soft, despite her own feelings. “Bastila is gone, Juhani is not the best guide for emotional matters, Jolee is busy with his own apprentice. Mission is a child, and she and Zaalbar have a company to run.”

            “What about Canderous?” He’s a good friend of yours.”

            It was hard to miss the ‘of yours’ part of that statement.

            “Canderous is a Mandalorian. He won’t put much stock in a recurring dream.”

            “What if that’s not all it is?” For someone so un-Jedi like, Carth had figured out how to read Revan completely. He was desperate to help her, and poured his emotion into his next question: “What if it’s another memory the Council shouldn’t have stolen?”

            She gave no answer beyond a shrug; unsure of the answer he was fishing for.

            “Come on, you know they shouldn’t have done that to you,” his tone was accusatory now, but not directed at her. It was amazing how much his opinions had changed on Darth Revan since they’d met.

            “If the Council hadn’t stripped my memories and stuck me on the _Endar Spire_ as any other soldier, we would never have met. Malak might have won, and the Republic we’ve both fought so hard for would be gone. Is that what you’d prefer?” Somehow she remained neutral, her voice only inflected by curiosity.

            "Wha-of course not!" He stood up and slammed his hands onto the railing. Before continuing, he took his own moment to watch as the Coruscant nightlife went by.

            "I just hate seeing you go through this, knowing there’s nothing I can do to help. Every night you twist and turn like you’re being tortured.” Again he paused, though his eyes turned to her face now.

            “You’re the strongest woman I know, but you can’t face everything alone.”

            His evident pain cut deep, but she held no more answers than he did. All she could do was stand and wrap her arms around his waist.

            “It’s cold. Let’s go back to bed,” she whispered in his ear.

            There was a flicker of hesitation, but then he quickly scooped her up into his arms. He silenced her half-protests with a long kiss and a smile.

            “I think I can figure out some way to warm you up.”

 

            Not too long later, Carth was happily asleep again. Revan, on the other hand, was staring at their ceiling; haunted by a vision of a world she had no true memory of.


	2. Of Bars and Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revan finds Canderous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

            For a city that extended across the surface of an entire planet and delved even lower, Coruscant had many confusing levels. The Undercity was of course the most confusing of these, with its maze-like blocks of buildings and seedy back alleys.

            One particular alley’s deadly silence was suddenly broken by a string of beeps and whirs, answered by the laughter of none other than the Prodigal Knight. Revan, dressed casually in an outfit resembling those of a typical bounty hunter wandering the streets, moved quickly, somehow knowing exactly where she was going. Coruscant had been her home for years, and while she didn’t remember most of that time, something felt comforting in the anonymity granted by the filled Undercity. None of the beings she passed would ever be able to place her as the former Sith Lord who had almost conquered them all, nor as the hero who had saved the galaxy twice. That was fine with her, as the attention often given to her in response to this made her sick. Any redemption she’d earned was overshadowed, in her mind, by the destruction she’d caused, and allowed Malak to cause. A part of her would always be Darth Revan, but it was something she needed to learn to live with.

            The ever-loyal T3-M4 followed her closely, though the droid seemed confused as to their destination.

            “Deet woo?” It tweedled behind her.

            “We’re going to find out why the Mandalorian Wars started, T3,” she answered patiently.

            Another questioning whistle made her smile, despite their surroundings.

            “It won’t be easy, I know. We’re going to meet an old friend who might have some answers.”

            As much as she wanted to sit back and relax with Carth while Dustil and Mission handled the next galactic crisis, the Force clearly had other plans for her. The nightmares, as they could no longer be classified as dreams, were only getting worse. Something had to be done.

            A low beep from behind her reminded her that she had to turn soon, or she'd miss the cantina. 

            “Thanks T3. It’s easy to get lost in this crowd.”

            A skeptical beep responded.

            “Sadly, the Force doesn’t allow me to find a cantina like that.”  


  
            The meeting place wasn’t one of the best she’d been to, but she’d certainly been to worse in her travels. Still, it did make her more than a little nostalgic for Taris.

            “There he is,” she muttered, mostly to herself, and slid through the bar crowd to settle in across from Canderous Ordo. T3 slid neatly under the table.

            The big Mandalorian was in the middle of taking a long drink of some sort of glowing concoction only Coruscant’s Undercity could produce. He took his sweet time finishing, and slammed the glass down with more force than was entirely necessary.

            “Looks like you and Onasi are having some fun nights.” No greetings needed with a man like Canderous, just a smirk and a joke. It would have been funny, had the reason she actually looked so exhausted been anything other than what it was.

            “Nice to see you too. Been a while.” Revan grinned, ignoring the comment for at least a little while. They actually hadn’t seen each other since a couple of days after the destruction of the Star Forge. She’d been thrown into too many meetings with the Jedi and he had done everything to avoid doing the same. She didn’t blame him for that.

            “Need a drink?” He waved over a Twi’lek waitress, who definitely leaned over more than necessary to refill his glass. She looked more than a little put out when Canderous ignored the free show.

            Revan shook her head, and then waited until the waitress was gone until she answered, “I don’t really want to be poisoned today.”

            “So why’d you come looking for me? If it’s not for the drinks, and Onasi is keeping you happy…” The question was punctuated by raised eyebrows.

            “You might be tired of this, but I’ve got some questions about the war.” It seemed like the only thing the two of them ever talked about, other than swoop racing of course.

            “We’ve been over this before, but sure. You beat us. Not much else to say about it.” His answer was curt, and followed by another long drink.    Revan knew he wasn’t trying to blow her off; he was just a Mandalorian. That was the way they were.

            “I know that.” She kept her voice calm, despite her impatience, and continued, “Why did you attack the Republic?”

            “It was Mandalore’s idea. He thought the Republic was weak, so he gathered the clans. He wasn’t wrong. If you hadn’t shown up, we would have won. You changed everything.” For someone who’s people had been slaughtered by the person he was sitting with, he was pretty okay with the story.

            That was a statement she was tired of hearing. She knew of her past, she just couldn’t remember it. Carth and the Holonet had told her much of her past, but it wasn’t the same. Nobody knew why she’d fallen, or even how she’d come up with her military strategies. Revan had studied the old battles, and was sure she understood at least that about herself. It was only mildly reassuring.

            “There was no other reason? No catalyst?” She had to ask. The galaxy was in danger, and the threat was locked in her memory.

            Canderous studied the liquid in his glass. He knew her well enough to realize she wasn’t just trying to reminisce about their shared past.

            “Any particular reason you’re asking this now?”

            “I haven’t been sleeping lately.” Her response was slow.

            “I can see that.” He snorted.

            “I’ve been having these dreams…but I think they’re memories. Something dangerous is coming.” If anyone would take her warning seriously, it was the Mandalorian.

            “What does this have to do with why the war started?” Shockingly, he still managed to sound as casual as ever. His calm was enviable.

            “It’s like this,” she lay her hands down on the table and spoke slowly, “Mandalore the Ultimate launches an invasion of the Republic. Malak and I defeat him, and then we go into the Unknown Regions, just past Mandalorian Space. When we return, we try to conquer the galaxy too. That can’t be coincidence. There is something out there, something that could destroy what’s left of the Republic.”

            “What can I do?” There was no hesitation, and Revan felt a swell of affection for her friend.

            “You’re ready to throw in with me again?” She wasn’t shocked, but she had to check.

            “Course, Rev. Feels just like old times.” He grinned, and she realized how bored he must have been since they’d defeated Malak.

            “Then I need to know more about Mandalore the Ultimate and his motives. However, no Mandalorian is going to tell an outsider anything they know.” The statement was punctuated with a pointed look.

            Rather than respond quickly, Canderous chugged what was left of his drink and took a deep breath.

            “I knew you’d get into something interesting again. I’ve been turning down every job that’s come my way.” He offered a hand.

            “I knew I could count on you.” With a grin, she gladly shook.

            “Just give me some time to investigate. I’ll let you know when we should meet up.” They both stood, though Revan was clearly more ready to leave than her friend. She’d never understand how he picked these places.

            “I’m hoping you don’t find anything, but that would take luck we’ve never had.”

            T3 loudly agreed.


	3. What's Left Behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revan looks for another old friend, but finds only hostility.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

            The Jedi Temple was a beautiful building, Revan thought, it just had too many stairs. As she was climbing said stairs and staring up at the statues that had been old when she was young, a sense of dread grew within her. As the adept Force user she was, the feeling was easy enough to dismiss, though she knew the value in emotion, unlike the Jedi.

            It was probably due to her radical ideas about the Force she was feeling this way, or rather her radical ideas led to the Jedi treating her in a way that caused such dread.

            Upon her half-return to the Order, the Council had offered to retrain her as the Padawan they’d tried to mold. The idea was more than ridiculous; it was insulting. They were trying to shove her back into a mold she’d never fit. Nobody knew more about the Force than Revan, and the Jedi still refused to believe they had grown too stagnant and arrogant to change. She would never have been able to sit and listen to Vrook’s lectures, especially since they all would have been on all her past decisions and how utterly flawed they were. The Council would never forgive her for getting them involved in the Mandalorian Wars.

            While she had fallen in the process, she had saved the Republic, and therefore stood by her decision to stand against the Mandalorian invaders. If she had not taken that jump, the Jedi would have only gotten involved too late.

            Of course, her more recent decisions also infuriated certain Jedi, such as getting engaged and moving in with the father of one of their most promising new students. They had been reluctant to take Dustil at first, but Revan felt fairly sure they had accepted him mostly due to fear of her.

            If that was the way they wanted to feel, she didn’t think it necessary to change their thoughts.

           

            When Revan reached the entrance to the Temple, she paused and allowed her dread to fill her completely, enough that she was almost choking on it. Then with a single breath she let it go. Now was not the time for emotion. She needed information too badly.

            Today she wore the typical tan and brown Jedi robes, and with her hood low over her face nobody recognized her. A few of the shorter Padawans who were still old enough to remember her took a few second glances, but none attempted to stop her as she moved through the vast halls.

            Canderous had been gone for more than a couple of weeks now, so she was trying to find an alternate way of gaining insight on the Mandalorians. She’d grown impatient with meditation and waiting, despite her company being good. Carth was a good distraction for only so long though, as he was now heavily involved with the goings-on of the Republic Navy.

            Finally, Revan found herself in the quiet calm of the Jedi Archives. Of all the places in the Temple, this was one of her favorites. The only spot she favored more was the Room of a Thousand Fountains, though now that was too busy for her.

            She located a vacant holo-terminal tucked neatly around a corner, secluded enough she hopefully would be left alone.

            In a few commands, she had every file on the Jedi Exile at her fingertips. Mirah Thon had been a good friend of Revan’s when they were children, and that friendship had brought Mirah to Revan’s side against the Mandalorians. However, she was among the few not to follow Revan and Malak to the Unknown Regions at the end of the war. Instead, she had willingly gone before the Jedi Council and accepted their judgement.

            Mirah had not been any more innocent than Revan and Malak. In the Battle above Malachor V, she had ordered the firing of the mass-shadow generator. While Revan had given her the order to do whatever necessary to stop the Mandalorian fleet while she engaged Mandalore the Ultimate in one-on-one battle, Mirah had still been the one to cause so much death. At least in the eyes of the Council, so they had exiled her.

            Now Mirah was long gone, disappeared presumably into the same Unknown Regions she’d refused to follow her friends to years before.

            But hopefully, if she could be located, the Jedi Exile would be a great asset to Revan. If nothing else, then perhaps Mirah could give her own reading on the Mandalorians. She had always been gifted with reading other beings.

            Sadly, the Jedi Archives seemed woefully empty when it came to Mirah Thon. All Revan could really find was a report on Malachor V, which she knew enough about to get bored reading.

            The Archives held no answers for her today.

 

            Then a voice from her past startled the former Sith Lord.

            “I should have guessed it was you.” The malicious tone was attached to none other than the head archivist, a woman Mirah’s age with white hair and matching robes. There was a time Revan had held some respect for this woman, but that was long past.

            “Atris.” She forced a pleasant smile, mostly out of respect for her old friend. From what Revan could remember, Atris had been very close with Mirah before the Mandalorian Wars. Atris blamed Revan for Mirah leaving her to fight, and her hatred showed clearly in her haughty expression.

            Revan found it enormously funny that a member of the Jedi Council would allow herself to emanate such hostility.

            “Still trying to recapture your lost memories?” Now a smug smile found its way across the white haired woman’s face, irking Revan. Atris had been among those to wipe her memories, and despite what she had told Carth, it did bother the Jedi Knight.

            Atris must have tagged the report to see if anyone came looking for information on Malachor V, probably assuming that anyone would be Revan.

            _What a schutta_. Two could play at that game though, and Revan had always been good at games.

            “There’s a lot of missing information here.” She gestured toward the terminal. “You should tell whoever wrote this they need to go back to basic archivist training.”

            The sneer on Atris’ face told Revan everything. She’d written the report herself.

            “Maybe you’re just missing something.” The archivist was losing the last shreds of her composure now.

            “Then help me find what I clearly can’t see.” Revan allowed herself a grin now, some sadistic part of her left from her days as a Sith enjoying toying with a Jedi.

            “Why should I help you?” Atris’ voice lowered, but somehow she managed to maintain the last shreds of her composure.

            Annoyance filled Revan as she tired of her game, so she said, “I’m still a Jedi, searching for truth in the Archives. Isn’t it your duty to help anyone in my position?”

            “I wrote all I know,” Atris replied, giving in and saying the truth as she saw it. Of course, her opinion was somewhat skewed. “The Exile made the mistake of following you. You led her to the dark side through your war. She killed thousands, and so the Council banished her.”

            “It was a desperate act in a desperate time.” Revan crossed her arms, not willing to concede the archivist’s point. “Nobody even knew what the mass-shadow generator did.”

            “It was a weapon of war that had a sole purpose of death and destruction. Her order to activate it is unforgiveable.” Atris’ voice was calm now, as she had finally found her serenity as dictated by the Jedi code.

            “Mirah turned herself in. Where was the famous Jedi mercy then?” Of all the issues Revan could debate forever, the failings of the Order were at the top of the list.

            “We had to make an example of her; to show that following the dark side, following _you_ , was unacceptable.” And now that serenity was gone again. Atris was nothing if not predictable.

            “I was given a second chance.” Atris’ equating of the dark side and Revan was not lost on the former Sith Lord, and she decided to use that.

            “That’s different. We needed you to stop Malak.” Ah, a Jedi could always excuse anything. It was one of their greatest gifts.

            “And yet Mirah had a better chance of being redeemed than I did. She was powerful in her own way, and just as much of a leader as I was,” Revan pointed out. “Besides, she offered herself to the Council’s judgment. You had to rely on my apprentice to half kill me before you could change my mind, and that was by forceful invasion.”

            “You have no idea what you did to her, do you?” Atris ignored what she had done to Revan in favor of accusing the other woman of something she clearly had no memory of.

            “No, I don’t. In case you don’t remember, _Master_ , you took my past away. So why don’t you just tell me?” The idea that Revan had intentionally caused one of her oldest friends harm was laughable, but there was some truth to what Atris said. She could feel that much, and it bothered her. She had to know what happened to Mirah.

            Atris took her sweet time with responding, “The Exile’s ship was too close to the effects of the mass-shadow generator. She felt the shockwave in a way nobody else could. All that death, felt deeply across her unique ability with Force connections, nearly killed her. Instinctively, she cut herself off from the Force. Permanently.”

            It was the truth, and not just as Atris saw it. Guilt filled Revan, and a victorious smile set itself on the archivist’s face. It seemed Revan was responsible for hurting her friend. After all, Mirah had been following her orders.

            “I’m sorry,” Revan said to Atris. The younger woman and Mirah had been friends once, just as Revan and the Exile had been. It must have been a terrible thing to watch someone close to you suffer such a loss. “I had no idea.”

            “Really?” Now the anger in Atris’ voice was stronger than ever, but Revan couldn’t help but feel she deserved it, at least somewhat. “Then why did you and Malak leave her when you went to the Unknown Regions? You knew she was of no further use to you, so you abandoned her.”

            “Is that fact, or just your own speculation?” Revan asked coolly, unwilling to allow her emotions control the conversation any longer.

            The uncomfortably long silence, only filled by mutual glares, was answer enough.

            “Even if your speculation is true, I am not that person. You and your Council saw to that.” She was still accountable for what she had done, she knew that, but there was no way she would stand for being treated like she was still a Sith Lord.

            “A charlax can’t change its spots,” Atris muttered, obviously of another opinion.

            “Do you know where Mirah went?” Revan was tired of fighting Atris, with neither side about to give in anytime soon. “I need to speak with her.”

            “Haven’t you done enough to her already?” Atris’ anger swelled again. “What more could you want? To rub in being cut off from the Force, a fate worse than death?”

            “I’ve been closer to death than most, and I can assure you that’s not true.” While Atris’ fury grew, so did Revan’s calm.

            “That is the difference between us. I live for myself. You live for yourself.” The white haired woman stood straighter, proud to compliment herself.

            “Clearly.” Revan was giving up on the conversation now. “Remember, Atris, there is no emotion, there is peace.”

            “Get out of my Archives. Go back to your boyfriend and his Sith son.” True hatred dripped off of Atris’ words, making Revan wonder if her own influence as a Sith Lord converting the Jedi was truly gone.

            Rather than argue further, Revan stood and raised her hands in a sign of defeat. Atris stepped back to allow her to pass, but the Jedi Knight felt the Jedi Master’s eyes on her back until she exited the Archive hall.

 

            As soon as her boots hit the Temple stairs, Revan allowed her guilt to be felt. She was unwilling to spend another moment in the Temple, some part of her reminded too much of her own failings. Mirah’s life was ruined, and it was her fault. She couldn’t even remember much of the younger woman.

            Just as she had let go of her apprehension before, Revan attempted to breath out her guilt. She was mostly successful, but there was still the dark shadow of regret gnawing away within her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been skipping the Scourge chapters so far, as I think those would be the same no matter what gender Revan was.  
> Also, I decided to keep some of the book dialogue I had in here before. Atris is fairly easy to write, and what Karpyshyn had feels accurate to me. I mostly just changed a lot of the wording, skipped what felt unnecessary, and added where it felt lacking. Of course, my Revan is very different as she isn't the generic idiot SWTOR gave us.


	4. Love and Lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

            _Canderous really needs to learn to pick a better cantina._ Revan picked her way through the eclectic gathering of beings, careful not to offend anyone and pick a fight. Sure, she could kill any of them with a wave of her hand, but that might not go over well.

            The dreams had been coming less and less in the past few weeks, which she attributed to her strives to understand them. As such, she had been able to sleep almost normally. Carth was reassured, and somehow thought things were going back to normal. Revan understood there was no normal for her. She desperately wanted to accept there were things even she couldn’t fight, but that would be a lie.

 

            “You couldn’t have contacted me via holocomm?” She sighed as she slid back into the vaguely sticky chair across from her Mandalorian friend. T3 made a noise of intense agreement and scooted into its spot under the table.

            “I need to talk to you face-to-face about this,” Canderous’ tone gave her no reassurance. The big man wasn’t usually so grave.

            “That sounds ominous.” In contrast, Revan tried to keep her voice light.

            “You still having those dreams?” He fiddled with his drink, avoiding eye contact.

            It seemed a strange question, but she couldn’t deny how relevant it felt. Her Masters had always told her nothing happened by accident; that it was the will of the Force that she was on her path. Later though, they told her she was giving in to the dark side and rejecting the true path laid before her. She was sure they were wrong. Or at least, she had been at the time.

            But now was no time for self-doubt. Revan had to face her future as it was laid before her.

            “Sometimes,” she admitted. “I’m dealing with it.”

            Canderous knew if she wanted to share, she would. He made no effort to push, and simply nodded in response. Of all the people who knew Revan, he could understand going at something solo. Maybe it was his own solitary nature, or the way the Mandalorians were usually a nomadic people, but either way Revan appreciated it greatly.

            “So, what did you find?” She asked, letting go of more personal questions and lacing her fingers together on the table.

            “I didn’t find any planet like the one you wrote me about, but I did find something…interesting.” He took his time with the response, allowing each words its own moment to weigh down the conversation.

            T3 beeped and whistled impatiently. Even the droid realized Canderous was being evasive, though Revan was willing to allow her friend his time to speak.

            “I hope you’re not waiting for me to buy this information from you,” she joked, “I left most of my credits at home.”

            The reaction she got was not expected. The Mandalorian grimaced slightly, and leaned in just casually enough anyone who didn’t know him would just think it was a slump.

            But Revan did know him, so she tensed; knowing something big was about to happen.

            “I shouldn’t be telling any Jedi this, but of all people you have a right to know.” The idea that she was like a typical Jedi was laughable, but she didn’t remark on it.

            “I know how to keep my mouth shut. The Council doesn’t get anything from me anymore.” _Unless they decide to imprison me and play mind games again._ But neither of them needed that said.

            “You can’t tell the Senate either.” It was almost a threat, but Canderous was smart enough to know that if he went after the former Sith Lord, he’d have to bring an army. Even then, that was no guarantee of success.

            “That bad?” Her tone was conversational, light considering they were discussing something clearly galaxy rattling.

            “Depends on your point of view.” He took a deep breath, apparently taking a final moment to consider the pros and cons of telling Revan this information.

            The pros outweighed the cons.

            “I talked to some of my people, and I found that dozens of the clans have gathered at Rekkiad.” For a Mandalorian, his speech and face had gone completely passive, but through the Force Revan could tell he was waiting for something.

            She had no idea what that was, though. Rekkiad was an insignificant ice world in the Outer Rim. It had little in strategic value and no easy resources.

            “They’re planning another invasion?” Despite the inopportune location, invasion seemed like the only logical reason any self respecting Mandalorian would find themselves on Rekkiad.

            “No.” Canderous allowed himself a small smile at that one. If there were to be another Mandalorian invasion, he would have had to decide between attempting to kill Revan then and there or lose what little was left of his people. He continued, “They’re searching for Mandalore’s Mask. They think you hid it on Rekkiad.”

            His words triggered something deep in the Jedi Knight’s mind, and suddenly she was lightyears away.

 

            There was a bitter wind trying to cut through her armor. Visibility was low, but she had the Force. She could sense Malak with her. They were on top of some sort of glacier, though that word didn’t feel quite right. They were searching for-

 

            The memory cut off maddeningly early, leaving Revan jarred and with a residual feeling of ice clinging to her.

            “I think they’re right,” she said with a shiver.

            “You remember?” Canderous suddenly looked eager, almost like he was about to get into a fight.

            “Bits and pieces.” She shook her head, unwilling to get his hopes up.

            “You know what the Mask means to my people,” he jumped right in, letting her broken memory rest, and said, “Without it we are lost. Mandalorians with no Mandalore are just vagabonds, wandering the galaxy with no purpose. Recovering the Mask could be the key to restoring Mandalorian honor. Honor and power.”

            Revan nodded. Since meeting Canderous, she had relearned much of his people. She had also been the one to defeat the Mandalorians, and despite her lost memories, enough bled through that she could recall what she knew of them. Anyone who didn’t study such an enemy like that in depth would be a fool, and she was no fool. Deciding to hide the Mask had been a final act to demoralize a defeated foe. She’d hoped that it would take centuries to be found again, as there would be no unity among the clans to start a true search.

            Apparently she’d been wrong, a rare occurrence.

 

            Canderous continued, “Whoever finds it will be hailed as the undisputed leader of the clans. Mandalore will rise again, and the Mandalorians will follow.”

            Clearly he trusted her with this information, despite her title as Revan the Butcher, given to her by his brethren. It wasn’t all that surprising that he trusted her; though it was a nice reminder of the family she’d built.

            “Do you believe the Mandalorians will attack the Republic when they find the Mask?” At this point, Revan’s one concern was for the safety of the already frail Republic. The Mandalorians weren’t in any better shape, but another war between the two would destroy both.

            “Depends on who finds it.” He shrugged. “Some want to attack, others just want to rebuild. Maybe we can figure out how to restore our honor within the bounds of the treaty we agreed to.”

            _The terms_ I _forced you to accept_. They both knew it; Canderous was just being respectful.

  
            There was a time that, given this information, Revan would have run straight to the Senate and led the attack herself. There was little doubt in her mind that she could crush the Mandalorians. However, she was not the same Jedi Knight who had denounced the Jedi Order and taken the rank of general. The idea of crushing anyone seemed repulsive to her, and victory at any cost no longer seemed worth it.

            “I won’t bring this to the Senate or the Council.” She’d made her choice. “But whoever finds Mandalore’s Mask will shape the destiny of your people. It might be a good idea for an outside influence to be there.”

            Her friend’s face erupted in a huge grin, and he reached across the table to slap Revan on the shoulder. Sure, it was meant to be a friendly gesture, but she wasn’t a bulky Mandalorian. Still, the pain was easily ignored, and she gave her friend an equally hard punch to the shoulder.

            “I knew I could count on you, Rev. Time to get the old crew back together.” As enticing as the idea of piling everyone back into the _Ebon Hawk_ and taking off for adventures together was, it was no longer reasonable.

            “Not everyone,” she sighed. “Juhani and Bastila are still Jedi, and the code mandates that they at least tell the Council where they’re going. Jolee would ignore the code, but he has an apprentice now. I’m not bringing Dustil into this.”

            The Mandalorian raised an eyebrow at the last comment, but let it slide.

            “I’ve got no problem with that. Jedi would only put a target on our backs among the clans.” Jedi would be slaughtered on sight, he meant.

            “Mission would insist on bringing Dustil too. Besides, she and Zaalbar have worked so hard to build up their import-export business. I don’t want them to abandon that just to help us.” There were other reasons for leaving them, such as Mission needing to have her own life for once and Zaalbar still having a duty to his people. If Kashyyyk called, he would have to return to lead his people. He couldn’t do that if he were running around with Revan.

            “They would come if you asked them.” Canderous pointed out. “Wouldn’t even think twice about it.”

            “That’s why I’m not going to ask. Mission finally has a steady, normal life with a good income and a nice boyfriend.” She was resolute in this decision.

            “Fine, fine. No Twi’lek kid or Wookiee. But hey, we’re getting a little short on bodies here.” He was growing impatient, she could sense it, but knew better than to question her too much.

            A loud whistle and the sound of jangling metal caused Revan to laugh and reach down to give T3 a reassuring pat.

            “Don’t worry, little fella. You’re too useful to leave behind.” This seemed to placate the small droid, though it did respond with a series of beeps.

            “Good point,” she relented, “HK is a little too trigger happy. Things tend to get unnecessarily bloody when he’s around.”

            “You do realize we’re going to a planet full of Mandalorians?” Canderous sounded more than a little exasperated. “Bloody is unavoidable.”

            “I’m hoping some of the clans can be reasoned with. However, bringing my homicidal assassin droid along would kill any chance of talking things out.” Really, the idea of HK-47 attempting to stand by and allow diplomacy to prevail was laughable.

            “Don’t you have other friends?” He asked, not trying to make fun of her. “What about that other Jedi general from the war? Not Malak.”

            Guilt tugged at Revan’s gut as she responded, “Mirah.”

            “Where’s she? She was a good warrior too.” And of course to a Mandalorian that was all the credentials anyone needed to join them.

            “Gone. She disappeared not long after the battle on Malachor V. I don’t know where she went.” She shook her head, unhappy to be talking about this again.

            “Then maybe we should track her down.” Of course, Canderous would have no idea what had happened to Mirah. He couldn’t be blamed for pushing to get more help.

            But Revan needed an excuse to keep herself far away from her old friend. She couldn’t bear the idea of forcing the Exile into another one of her fights.

            “She may have had a falling-out with the Council, but she’s still as much of a Jedi as Juhani and Bastila.” It was a bad lie, but it was all she could think of.  
  
            “So who’s that leave? You, me, this half-sized bucket of bolts, and Onasi?” He didn’t seem thrilled at the idea of having such a small crew.

            “We’re not bringing Carth.” On that, Revan was sure. If she was right about the bigger threat out there, then hopefully the Mandalorian clans would lead her to it. If that happened, she couldn’t afford to have anyone she loved with her. It could have been Sith coldness or Jedi detachment telling her that, but either way she knew it to be true.

            “What, you two having a lover’s quarrel? Rev, as your friend, get over it.” He rolled his eyes, clearly not understanding her predicament.

            “He’s a Republic Admiral now, and he might tell someone what’s happening,” she insisted, knowing it was a lie.

            “That’s not it.” Clearly Canderous knew it wasn’t true either. “Onasi wouldn’t say a word if you asked him not to.”

            She hesitated, but gave in and said, “Listen, Carth has had a rough few years. He’s just now reunited with his son, and he’s got influence in the Republic now. Maybe he can help them straighten out a bit. I can’t screw up his life by asking him to drop everything for me.”

            “He would.” The Mandalorian knew them well, perhaps better than Carth thought.

            “I also can’t afford…distractions.” As she allowed the words to pass over her lips, she knew how much they sounded like something she would have said at the end of the Mandalorian Wars. But there was some merit to her old self, and it had been effective. It just felt like she was slipping back into something she’d never wanted to be.

            “So how are you going to leave without him knowing?” Canderous could understand her point, at least. He was a true warrior, just as she had been. Any true warrior knew how attachments could affect one on the battlefield, just as the Jedi said. The only problem with that was the Sith saying it too.

            “I have some ideas.”

 

 

            Night had fallen by the time Revan got back to her apartment. A comforting darkness filled the small rooms, interrupted only by the flickering lights of a holodrama. Carth had obviously been trying to wait up for her, but he was exhausted in his new role as admiral. She smiled at his sleeping form, sprawled over their couch with one arm dangling off, gripping a datapad. It was a nice view, so she smiled as she passed by.

            As much as she wished to curl up beside her fiancée and sleep, or to wake him up to give a proper good night, there was too much she needed to do. The domestic bliss she’d enjoyed for almost a year now was slipping away from her, and she was letting it go.

            Not like she’d be able to sleep anyway. The dream would come again, and she’d end up with yet another sleepless night.

            Rather than giving in to her wishes, she slipped into their room to pack for her coming journey.


	5. Gone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

            Somehow Revan managed to keep up appearances for Carth for the next couple days. She smiled and laughed and watched holodramas with him, same as always. It was wonderful, but every time she looked at him she knew how much she was going to hurt him. But of all people, she knew the benefits of pain. Of course there were costs; it was pain. Right now, though, he would need to focus on the Republic. She was only a distraction, the same as he was for her.

            “Listen, I might be late tonight. We’re starting some intense meetings on how to use our new budget, and Dodonna wants me there.” Carth’s voice broke her out of her thoughts.

            “I can’t promise I’ll wait up for you,” she said with a smile, shoving down on the guilt building inside. It was true, at least, and she punctuated it with a kiss. Revan allowed her lips to linger on his, knowing this might be her last change to enjoy his company.

            But then it was over, and she pulled herself away to get a sanisteam and drown her sorrows.

 

            Revan was a fool to think Carth knew nothing of her plans. Even if he hadn’t noticed the slight change in her demeanor, or how she’d been dragging out time together, he would have sensed it in that kiss. He could feel every bit of sorrow and regret she was falling into, but knew there was nothing he could do about it.

            Well, maybe there was something.

            As quietly as possible, he made his way to the kitchen, where T3 was rattling about reorganizing for some reason.

            “T3, there’s not much time,” he began, hoping the droid was listening. “I’ve seen that expression on her face before. Now I don’t know where she’s planning on going, but it’s dangerous.”

            The droid was definitely paying attention now, the bowl it was gripping forgotten.

            “She’s going to leave without telling me.” It broke his heart to say it, but he knew Revan. She had gone from someone he hated to someone he wasn’t sure he could live without. “I don’t know why, but there’s a chance that she’ll take you. If she does, I need you to watch out for her. She’s strong, but she can’t face everything alone.”

            He took a deep breath, every word cutting deeper, before continuing, “Do what you can T3. If she doesn’t make it back, then I need you to come back, find help. If not me, then other Jedi, the Republic…”

            Carth’s eyes locked on the front door, hoping that walking out of it today wouldn’t be something he regretted for the rest of his life.

            “I can’t lose her, even if she wants to be lost.”

 

            Revan’s hands moved past the plain Jedi robes that hung in her closet, choosing instead a simple pair of pants and top. She threw an old jacket on; ignoring the false memories the Council had given her. Those lies said that jacket had been a gift from her parents when she’d left her homeworld, parents that would have been disappointed in her choice to go into smuggling but were proud when she told them she’d joined the Republic military.

            Except those parents didn’t exist, she’d never been a smuggler, and the jacket was just practical and didn’t make her look like a Jedi. The only sentimental value it held was any feelings she had for her time on Taris. Admittedly, she had been wearing the jacket when she’d met Carth, Mission, and Zaalbar. Maybe it wasn’t so terrible.

            The rest of the clothes she was bringing were already packed, mostly other non-conspicuous choices. There were a couple more Jedi-like ensembles, but those were mostly giving in to nostalgia.

            All she was leaving for Carth was a datapad and the rest of her clothes. She’d even taken one of the holos of the _Ebon Hawk_ crew. There were others, scattered around the apartment. She hoped it would give him some solace.

            He would cope. He had to. And now he had Dustil and Mission, and surely their other friends wouldn’t abandon him. He would not be alone.

            Besides, it wasn’t like she’d never come home. She’d deal with whatever threat was glaring down on the Republic and then kick back and enjoy retirement.

            If only that thought gave her some joy.

 

            Canderous was leaning against the _Ebon Hawk_ , tapping his fingers against one of the blasters strapped to his side. He wore no armor and carried no more weapons, but the bags and crates next to him told her he was bringing more than enough.

            “Ready?”

            Rather than get into a long conversation about feelings, she just nodded. The Mandalorian knew not to pry, and just made his way up the ramp with some of the equipment.

            Revan let T3 take a couple of their bags, as the droid kept insisting it wanted to help. She could handle it alone, but it made her smile to watch the astromech maneuver around the ship trying not to drop anything.

            Before either Canderous or T3 could return to try to ‘help’ some more, she raised a hand and gripped the remaining bags and crates in the Force. It took her no more than a handful of minutes to load it onto the _Hawk_. Sometimes having so much power at her fingertips was a good thing.

 

            It felt odd to settle into the pilot’s seat. She’s sat there before, on her own and with Carth there. A light flush crept over her face at the memory of some of the activities they’d done in that chair, but she turned her mind to his instructions on how to fly the ship properly. He’d been a good teacher, and had steadfastly ignored her attempts to distract him. At least until she’d learned enough, of course.

            Canderous wordlessly plopped down into the copilot’s chair, and T3 beeped loudly to indicate it was going to go to the monitor room.

            “Let’s go,” Revan said.

            As Coruscant faded, both in her scopes and her Force senses, she couldn’t help but feel like she’d never see it again.

 

            Carth was leaving the first of what he suspected would be a load of worthless meetings. His previous optimism was quickly fading as he realized he’d be forced to deal with a bunch of Republic Senators and bureaucrats. Nothing happened when the bureaucrats got involved. Dodonna must have thought it a really funny joke to force him to get involved.

            His internal complaining was cut off by a beep from his comm.

            “Onasi here.” Force, his tone was already bored sounding, an unfortunate side effect from the meetings.

            “Admiral, I just wanted to ask if you’d like to cancel the rent on your hangar in the Everybody’s Spaceport, the winner of last year’s cleanest spaceport on this side of Coruscant?” The voice on the other end sounded just as bored as he felt, but their words jolted Carth.

            “Why would I cancel my rent?” Not that he didn’t know the answer, as shown by his feet turning and quickening their pace with very little thought on his part.

            “Well, sir, your ship is gone. Our records don’t report it was stolen. The other owner of the lease, Allya Vey? She took the ship out and logged it for an indefinite-“

            He shut off the comm, somehow having enough sense to stick it back on his belt. The sick feeling in his gut was growing, and he didn’t want to accept what there was already ample proof to know.

 

            The door to their apartment couldn’t open fast enough. He burst into the front room, any sense of hope falling away when he saw all the lights were out.

            “Revan?” He had to try. She wouldn’t do this to him, not so suddenly. She couldn’t.

            But she had, and apparently she’d thought a quick break was better. He understood her reasoning, even knew it was probably right.

            Still, he didn’t have to like it.

 

            It was only as he practically collapsed onto their couch, head in hands, that he noticed the datapad on the table. His trembling hands somehow found a way to scoop it up and activate it, but he could barely read the text that appeared first.

            _Flyboy,_

_I’m sorry, but I have to do this, for all of us. I’m going to figure out what caused the Mandalorian Wars and turned Malak and me into Sith, and I’m going to stop it. For now, you need to help the Republic recover. You’re the best suited to do it, and I trust you to keep our family safe, and the Republic strong._

_There are places I have to walk where you can’t go, places I can’t bring anyone I love. And I do love you, so I’ll be home soon._

_For now, if you get bored, this datapad contains my journals, which I haven’t actually read yet. I’ve been waiting until I get my memories back. They’re yours for now. There are more recent entries from our adventures together, but that you know._

_Bye bye, hairless Wookiee,_

_Revan_


	6. Homecoming for a Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Revan studied the terrain map and leaned back in her chair. Rekkiad wasn't much but ice and snow, and it really showed. There was nothing but a few snowdrifts and some natural ice structures in the scan.  
Canderous had said that the Mandalorians were there, and that there was a landing pad maintained by all the clans there. However, neither he nor she thought it would be a good idea to land and go flouncing around as an outsider planning to help clan Ordo. At best, she'd get kicked off the planet within minutes. At worst, she'd be attacked and have to reveal that she was, in fact, one of the hated Jedi, and the odds of getting out of a horde of angry Mandalorians alive were very low, even for her.  
Hopefully she wouldn't be recognized as Revan the Butcher. She doubted that someone would realize it, as she had aged since the wars, and back then she'd rarely gone without her mask.

Canderous and Revan had planned to land not too far away from the Clan Ordo settlement, but she was having problems finding it for one, and the Ebon Hawk wasn't doing to well in the extreme conditions. Because of all the blizzard like climate, she had to bring the Hawk relatively close to the actual ground of the planet to get a good scan of the area.  
As the ship descended, Revan sat up straight and tensed up, ready to pull back up if anything popped up.  
"Get Canderous up here," She called over to T3 and frowned. "Tell him to check those coordinates again."  
T3 quickly whizzed off in search of Canderous, who Revan suspected would be digging around looking for food.

Just as she was smiling at the thought, a huge gale shoved the ship downwards and Revan was thrown forwards in her seat. The safety restraints dug into her, but she ignored them and yanked back on the steering stick as far as the ship would allow. The Hawk quickly turned its direction upwards with only seconds to a very icy death for Revan and Canderous.  
However, the ride wasn't over yet. The nav display suddenly showed a gigantic glacier right in front of the ship.  
Revan threw the stick to the side in an attempt to avoid the monolith, but even her reflexes weren't enough to save them completely from clipping the ice. The impact sent the ship into total mayhem as it spun into a roll. She reached out to the Force to help her anticipate the wild flight and counteract the crazy twists and turns. Luckily, she was able to keep them in the air until the Hawk steadied out and it was safe to breath again.  
She pulled the Hawk up again and turned on autopilot when they were at a safe altitude. She sank back into the pilot's chair that she was having a hard time not thinking of as Carth's chair. That was too close.  
She allowed herself enough time so that her head stopped spinning before sitting up again and checked the damage. A flashing red light caught her attention, and her heart sand back down as she realized the landing gear had been damaged in the attack from the ice structure.

A mild curse slipped through her lips, but a very loud and very dirty monologue of curses came sounding from behind her as Canderous made his entrance with T3 at his heels.  
"You trying to smash us into gree pulp back there?" Canderous grunted and sat in the copilot's seat. "I thought you knew how to fly this rusted slag-heap."  
"I thought you said Clan Ordo had set up camp somewhere on this frozen rock," she grumbled back. "Couldn't see a blasted thing on those grid coordinates you gave me."  
"Maybe they moved to another location. Can't have gone too far, though. Not in these conditions. Do a ground scan of the area and they'll probably turn up."  
"I was trying to do that when we were attacked by a wild glacier." Revan rolled her eyes at him.  
"That why the red light's blinking?"  
"The landing gear got smashed when we clipped the glacier."  
"You couldn't just fly around it?"  
She rolled her eyes again and shook her head.

"Go down for another look," Canderous said after a few moments. "They've gotta be close by."  
"Even if we find them, then what? You really expect me to bring the ship in on busted landing gear?" She raised her eyebrows at him.  
"You're smart." He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "You'll figure it out."  
She grimaced, but let it go.

After a few minutes of fiddling with the controls and trying to see how badly the landing gear was damaged, Revan snuck a glance over at Canderous. He seemed different now...a lot more... relaxed, if someone like him could ever really be relaxed. The only thing she could think of was that going back to his clan, his family, was bringing about the change. He obviously didn't want to stop looking just because they'd probably have a rough landing.  
Of course, neither did she. There was far too much to do here, and what would she tell Carth? No doubt he'd be happy to see her, but she'd accomplished nothing. There was still the threat of the lightning-covered planet.  
She carefully set the Hawk into a descent again, watching carefully and trying to compensate for the winds.  
"See if you can do something to give our sensors a boost," she called over to T3.  
T3 immediately went to work, plugging into the ship's systems and adjusting things. Revan grinned at the droid's enthusiasm and started the scanners again, just in case any more attack glaciers popped up.  
Suddenly, T3 gave an excited whistle and a beep to indicate he'd found something. Canderous looked over at the display and grunted.  
"I think your droid's got some rust on the brain. I don't see anything."  
She ignored him and asked T3, "Can you enhance the image?"  
T3 gave an affirmative whistle and zoomed in so that there was a rough thermal scan showing. It was hard to make out, but there seemed to be a grouping of tents and small shelters set by a small mountain.  
"Could be them." Canderous reached over to pat T3 on the head, but the droid squawked and pulled away. Revan grinned.  
"Doesn't look like there's a landing strip at the camp. See any place for us to touch down?"  
T3 went to work scanning the surface around the camp. The scanner adjusted erratically and zoomed in and out all over the place until finally the image stopped.  
"Perfect." Her grin widened. "Nice work, T3."  
"Uh...that's not a landing strip." Canderous adjusted uncomfortably in his seat. "That's a giant snowdrift."  
"With the landing gear shot, we're going to need something to cushion the blow when we hit the ground. Buckle up!" She snorted at the Mandalorian's look of worry as he quickly arranged himself into the safety restraints.  
Even T3 scooted to the back wall and locked his wheels.

Revan reached out to the Force again and carefully sent them into a descent. The winds were worse at that altitude, and the Ebon Hawk seemed to like getting caught in bad gales, so of course they were nearly knocked onto their side. However, this time, her Jedi reflexes served her well and allowed her to keep the ship from flipping over completely.  
Still, the ship slammed into the snow at a forty five degree angle, throwing Canderous and Revan against their restraints as T3 let a whistle of terror go.

For several minutes, she just sat and stared out the window at the white snow that seemed to be everywhere. However, she did check the ship readouts, and was glad to see nothing else had been damaged.  
She gingerly unbuckled the restraints, well aware of the bruises she would have later from the force of the collision. Canderous was muttering what must have been curses as he practically ripped his own restraints off. T3 was lucky and just unlocked his wheels, rolling forwards slightly.  
"I guess sometimes it's not so bad being a droid," Canderous moaned and rubbed his chest.  
"You mean like when you're marching through a blizzard?" She grimaced back. "This snowdrift's at least five kilometers from the campsite."  
He just grunted.

While Canderous went to gather any necessary gear, Revan and T3 ran diagnostics on the ship to see how bad it really was.  
"Not too bad, think you can handle it?" She glanced over at T3.  
He beeped twice in response.  
"It'll be hard for you to keep up in all the snow, and besides, someone has to stay and guard the ship."  
The little droid hesitated, but then whistled in agreement.  
"Great, you get started; I'll go give Canderous a hand."

Almost an hour later, Revan and Canderous were bundled up in everything they had to ward off the freezing temperatures that awaited them outside. It was all white for camouflage, but Revan wasn't sure anyone would be able to see in the blizzard anyways.  
Canderous grabbed a heavy blaster carbine and tried to give one to Revan too, but she just shook her head.  
"You don't want to be swinging that lightsaber around. Jedi aren't popular with Mandalorians, and if they recognize the hilt..."  
"Point taken." She nodded and picked up a couple blaster pistols. "These will work."  
He gave her a look that said 'Oh come on', but he let it go.  
"When we get to camp, let me do the talking. Remember: these are my people."  
"I can live with that." She hit the switch to lower the ramp and started walking. "Come on."

The two maneuvered the hoversled they'd packed with supplies down the ramp (needless to say, there was lots of cursing involved on both accounts). The blizzard was so strong it nearly knocked them both off of their feet and made everything worse. The only way they stayed on track was a portable locater Revan had grabbed at the last minute and plugged the coordinates into. They used hand gestures to communicate, and soon they were both fairly warm despite the freezing temperatures. The layers of clothing combined with dragging a heavy sled across such rough terrain did wonders for their body temperatures.  
About two hours later, Revan pointed ahead at the small mountain the scanner had shown earlier, but then signalled that the camp was on the other side. Canderous responded by signaling they needed to go faster, which she nodded her response to.  
As they slowly moved around the mountain, the wind died down considerably, much to their relief. It made moving much easier, and it wasn't long before they say the lights of Clan Ordo's camp.  
They saw about a dozen tents, a shack, a few sleds scattered around, and a couple generators. Revan guessed the shack must have been both a supply shed and a meeting place, as it was the only semi-large structure around.  
Revan squinted to try to see the mounds on the other side of the camp better, and she immediately wished she hadn't.  
As part of the terms of surrender she'd forced on Canderous's people, she'd ordered them to disassemble all of their famous war droids, the Basilisks. These tarp-covered mounds could have been nothing else, based on their size and shape.

But before Revan could completely process what that meant, a loud gruff voice called out, "One more step and we paint the snow with your brains!"  
Four sentires popped up, seemingly from nowhere. They were dressed in heavy winter clothes of browns, golds, and blues and pointed heavy blaster rifles at the two 'intruders'.  
"Lay your weapons down and identify yourselves!" The same speaker called out.  
Canderous didn't move, so Revan did the same.  
"My name is Canderous of Clan Ordo," he growled. "And I don't lay my weapons down for anyone!"  
Revan gathered that his name meant something to the sentries from their stunned silence.  
"How do we know you're really Canderous?" Another one of the sentries demanded, this one also male.  
"Well, Edric, I could punch you in the face until I straightened out that crooked beak of yours, but we'd probably all freeze to death before I finished."  
The sentry laughed a rough laugh, slung his blaster over his shoulder, and ran to hug Canderous and pound him on the back. "It's good to see you again, brother!"  
Revan was relieved to see the other sentires joining Edric in welcoming their clan brother back, and she waited patiently while they loudly exchangd greetings.  
After a few minutes, Edric spoke again, "Let's get you and your friend out of the cold. She looks a bit small to handle too much." His words were insulting, but his tone was playful as he spoke Basic. Still, Revan knew enough about Mandalorians to respond.  
"I'd challenge you too see how long you could last, but that wouldn't be difficult enough for me." She grinned.  
There were a couple hoots from the other sentries, and Canderous seemed relieved that she knew enough about his people to handle herself.  
"Alright, alright, this way." Edric seemed to be laughing as he motioned towards the shack.

Several heads popped out of the tents as Edric lead them through the camp, and people started to follow them.  
At the door of the building, Edric knocked his boots clean of any clinging snow, and Canderous and Revan followed his lead.  
The first thing Revan noticed was the pleasant warmth that caused her goggles to fog up almost immediately. She was very happy to remove them and look around.  
The shack was a meeting place and a supply shed all in one. There were already several Mandalorians relaxing among the crates and using them as furniture. Edric went to a corner and began stripping off his outside gear, and Revan was again only too happy to follow his lead.  
Canderous, however, was too busy being swarmed by the others to get out of his gear. There was a lot of Mando'a, but Revan only caught some of it. It had been a long time since she'd spoken the language of her old enemies.  
Canderous seemed thrilled to be with his people again, so Revan stayed back. She didn't want to interrupt anything, but she was starting to wonder if she should make herself an armchair out of some of the crates when a tall, broad-shouldered figure slammed open the door and forced its way into the room.  
Nobody spoke as the figure removed its outer gear to reveal a somewhat attractive, olive skinned woman with black hair and red and purple highlights. Her eyes were an icy blue and she had tattoos on her face of the same color.  
She glared at Canderous and finally spoke, "Su cuy'gar, Canderous."  
It was a common enough greeting for Mandalorians, but her tone implied that she really meant the words: So you're still alive.  
"Su cuy'gar, Veela," The big man responded.  
Veela seemed to hesitate in her step towards him, but then her head snapped over so she could look at Revan.  
She asked Canderous, "Do you want me to speak Basic so the Outsider can understand us?"  
"I understand well enough," Revan countered in Mando'a, the strange language slowly coming back to her.  
Veela looked somewhat surprised, but then she turned back to Canderous. "What are you doing here?"  
"Is that any way to greet a clan-brother?"  
"Are you still my clan-brother? You left us after the war. You deserted Clan Ordo to become a mercenary."  
"There was no Clan Ordo after the war." Canderous's tone became snappish. "Tegris was dead. We had no leader. We were scattered, broken, defeated. I wasn't the only one who left."  
"We heard you were working for the Jedi." There was so much venom in Veela's voice that Revan inadvertently tensed up, but she quickly forced herself to relax.

There was quiet until Edric said, "Sin vhetin." Murmurs of agreements from the others followed.  
It literally meant 'driven snow', but Revan knew enough about Mandalorians to get that its true meaning was 'The past is the past'. It was just another honorable thing the Mandalorians said that, even as she was fighting them, Revan respected.  
Veela obviously didn't agree, but she let it drop and demanded, "I'm the leader of the clan now, and I still have a right to know why you're here."  
"To help Clan Ordo find Mandalore's Mask."  
Veela studied Canderous before pointing at Revan. "And what about this Outsider?"  
"She is my friend. My sister. She will help us in our search."  
"Do you have a name, Outsider?"  
"Her name is Arven," Canderous hastily cut Revan off. "She's a mercenary. We met while I was working for Davik Kang."  
"You can't speak for yourself?" Veela asked, still eyeing Revan. "I thought you understood Mando'a. Am I going too fast for you?"  
"I understand." Revan crossed her arms casually. "You speak well."  
There was a collective gasp from the others, and then a few small laughs. Revan had just insulted Veela, as the Mandalorians valued actions so much more than words that they found those that used words, such as diplomats, contemptible. She'd essentially said that Veela was all talk.  
"Brother Canderous vouched for you, so you can stay." The venom had crept back into Veela's voice. "But if you betray us, I'll kill you. If your weakness causes one of my people to get hurt, I'll kill you. If you slow us down, I'll kill you. Is that clear?"  
"Wait...what was the second one again? Maybe I should write this down."  
Again, a few small laughs as Veela swung back to Canderous and just said, "Welcome home brother."  
She quickly but efficiently donned her winter gear and left.

As soon as Veela was gone, the mood in the shack turned back to relaxed and Revan motioned Canderous over.  
"Arven?" She whispered in Basic, somewhat incredulously.  
"What's wrong with Arven?"  
"You just rearranged the letters in Revan."  
"Relax. Nobody's going to-" He cut himself off as Edric came over to them.  
"Don't judge Veela too harshly." The sentry obviously misinterpreted their quiet conversation. "She's a good leader, but she has a temper. You should remember that next time you provoke her."  
"I just got caught in the middle." Revan held up her hands. "Canderous is clearly the one she's mad at. Something happened there, you two have history."  
"You could say that." Canderous shrugged. "She's my wife."


	7. Revelation

Revan shivered in the freezing weather, but gritted her teeth. Beside her, Malak was saying something, but the shriek of the wind was too loud.  
"What?" She called at the top of her lungs.  
"Are you sure it's here?" He had to yell as well.  
"It's here. I can feel it."  
"Maybe it's on the other side."  
She glanced over at the other peak of solid ice that looked exactly like the column they were standing on: ice, smooth, and weathered.  
"It's this one." She looked around. "The entrance is around here somewhere."  
They went back to scouring the flat surface with both the Force and their normal senses.  
"Here!" Malak called. "I found it!"

Revan sat straight up with a gasp. Everything seemed to be spinning as she looked around, trying to recall the night before.  
The cold of the tent helped her clear her head a bit, even with the tent being thermal and her several layers of clothing.  
As her head stopped spinning, she took stock of her surroundings. Everything was in its proper place, including Canderous. He was in the other sleeping bag, snoring louder than Carth, which Revan hadn't believed physically possible until now.

She began to slowly recall the night before.  
Canderous had clammed up about Veela almost immediately, and Revan hadn't wanted to push her friend, so she let it go.  
The Mandalorians had decided they'd have a big celebration since Canderous was back. Edric and all the others told stories that Revan had found interesting and, sometimes, amusing.  
There had also been lots of Mandalorian ale, kri'gee. Revan had had more than her fair share in trying to match the Mandalorians for a reason she couldn't quite remember at this point. Something to do with Edric and a challenge, which made her smile. Still, the drink was stronger than anything she was used to, and that explained why her head had been spinning and still felt like it was about to explode. She hadn't had a hangover like this since after she was named the Prodigal Knight and Canderous had thought it would be fun for them all to go drinking (except, of course, Mission).  
She rubbed her eyes, thinking of how she'd love to be still asleep.  
But her mind clearly had other plans for her, and Rekkiad was bringing back old memories.

She and Malak had obviously been looking for something important that somehow involved Mandalore's Mask. She had no idea what it was, but knowing that Rekkiad was definitely the right planet was somewhat reassuring.  
Carefully, she crawled out of her sleeping bag and immediately shivered, the cold piercing through her thick shirt. It took her a couple minutes, but she managed to find her personal communicator under her bag.  
She quickly slid back into her cozy sleeping bag before activating it.  
"T3, you there?"  
Several concerned beeps replied, and she half smiled at the droid's concern.  
"Everything's fine," she whispered. "Canderous is asleep though, so a little quieter would be good."  
He responded with a whistle, but the volume was significantly lower.  
"Didn't I tell you that you didn't need me for the repairs at all?" She shook her head slightly.  
He just beeped grumpily back.  
"Snow does get everywhere, but it'll melt later. Right now, can you scan the maps to find two massive columns of ice standing close together? They've got to be two or three kilometers high at least. When you find them, send me the coordinates."

A few moments later, there was a chirpy reply from the little droid.  
"Thanks a bunch, T3. Make sure to guard the Hawk, I'm going to need her when we're done here." With that, she shut off her comm and set it down. Now she had to wake up Canderous somehow, which didn't look like it would be easy.  
"Wake up." She tossed a wrapped ration bar at his back, but only received some very nasty words in return.  
"Come on, you've got to get Veela to move the camp." She threw another ration bar.  
"Huh? What? What about Veela?" Shockingly, he opened one eye.  
"You've got to get her to move the camp."  
And then it closed again. "That's her call, not mine. She's the clan chief."  
"I think they're looking for Mandalore's Mask in the wrong place."  
Both eyes now opened and he sat up. "Well, why didn't you say so?" He paused, then held up one of Revan's projectile ration bars.  
"Were you throwing these at me or something?"  
"I have no idea what you're talking about." She smiled innocently back.

"Everybody's here." Veela crossed her arms. "Say what you have to say."  
Revan still had a hangover, and Veela either didn't know or was deliberately trying to make this meeting more painful by being very, very loud. Revan almost wanted to believe the latter, but it was probably the former.  
All in all, there were eight people in the room including Revan, Canderous, Veela, Edric, and others Revan couldn't for the life of her recall.  
"We have to move the camp," Canderous said with a very no nonsense tone. He and Revan had figured he should talk, as she was still an Outsider and Veela clearly had something against her.  
"Move the camp?" Veela looked at her husband like he had gone insane. "You think it's so easy to just pick up and go?"  
"It took our scouts weeks to find this location." Well, there was a person Revan decided she didn't like, even without knowing the stranger's name.  
"This is a good spot," Edric agreed, but shot a guilty look at Canderous, so Revan forgave him. "We're sheltered from the worst of the wind and snow. The mountain protects us from getting flanked, and the only way in is right past our sentries."  
Veela nodded, looking smug, and then turned back to Canderous to demand, "Give me one good reason we should move the camp."  
"Because we'll never find Mandalore's Mask if we stay here," Canderous answered, and Revan got the feeling he was beginning to lose his temper with his wife.  
No one made a sound for a good minute before Veela finally responded, "Nobody knows where Revan hid the mask. The clans have each staked out their territory, hoping it's their destiny to find that which we all seek."  
"Seems like a pretty poor way to choose a leader." Revan immediately regretted making the offhand comment when Veela turned to glare at her again.  
One of the others spoke up, "Fate will make the choice for us. Whichever clan is destined to find the Mask, will."  
"Is that how the clans ended up on Rekkiad?" Revan raised her eyebrows and managed to keep her tone mild. "Fate? Or blind luck?"  
"You show your ignorance when you speak of things you don't understand," Veela snarled. "Fate and destiny are not blind luck. What brought us here was perseverance, and patience. We are here because we are Mandalorians, and Mandalorians are strong. When Revan hid the Mask, she caused most of us to leave. We were a disgraced people. But there were those of us who stayed behind to look for what we had lost rather than running off to hide in the shadows."  
The Mandalorian woman shot Canderous a dark look, and Revan noticed he was staring at the wall like it was suddenly the most interesting thing in the room.  
"We know Revan disappeared for three days after Mandalore fell and the atrocity that was Malachor Five. There are only a small number of habitable planets within that range that she could have gone to. So we have been searching each world, scouring the surface. On the first world, there were less than fifty of us. That took two years alone. As we journeyed from world to world, more clans joined our search. It took less and less time as more of our people came home to us. The quest for Mandalore's Mask gave us a common goal as a true people once more, and we are again united."  
She turned back to her husband. "Slowly those who left are trickling back. There are thousands of us on Rekkiad, and if we do not find the Mask here, then we will find it on the next world, or the one after that. We will have a Mandalore once more, and our people will answer to him or her."  
Then she turned to, again and not surprisingly, glare at Revan. "That is what we mean when we speak of fate. It is only a matter of time until we find what we seek and our quest is over. It is our destiny."  
Silence followed, and Revan could both feel and see that the others in the shack were moved by Veela's words.

"I can help you achieve this destiny," Revan said quietly. "I know where Revan hid the mask. Listen to me, and I will help you find it."  
"Impossible." Veela blew off the offer as though it were nothing. "Nobody knows where she hid it."  
"I have access to resources you don't." Revan ignored her. "Republic records, military transcripts, battle plans, navigation charts, anything you could want. You aren't even sure this is the right planet, but I am. This is where Mandalore's Mask is, and with my help, the next Mandalore will be one of Clan Ordo's brothers or sisters."  
Veela hesitated, but turned to Canderous. "Arven is your friend. Can we trust her?"  
"I wouldn't have brought her if I didn't trust her with my life. And I wouldn't have told her if I didn't believe she could help." Much to Revan's satisfaction, Canderous didn't pause before answering.  
"Where do you suggest we go?" Veela asked Revan, but her eyes were still on Canderous's face.  
"About fifty kilometers from here there are two columns of ice that rise straight up."  
"The Twin Spears?" Edric seemed like he trusted Revan, which she appreciated.  
"There should be an entrance to a tunnel on the top that leads down into the ice. I believe that is where Revan hid Mandalore's Mask."  
"The Twin Spears are Clan Jendri's territory." Veela's face had gone sour again. "If they catch us on their turf, there will be blood."  
"Did you really expect to get the Mask without fighting for it?" Canderous asked.  
Veela shook her head before turning to the others.  
"Pack up camp! We're marching on the Twin Spears!"

Revan was shocked at the speed and efficiency of Clan Ordo. The order to move out spread quickly. Everyone had a job in packing up the camp, and everybody did it fast.  
Within an hour, every single tent, heater, and supply crate had been loaded onto a cargo sled. They were starting to make their way towards the Twin Spears with Edric and his scouts leading the way. The whole column of Mandalorians was very organized around the cargo sleds. Everyone seemed prepared and wary for an attack.  
Smack dab in the middle of the group were the six Basilisk war droids. The droids stood at about five meters and were hulking metal masses that easily dragged the biggest and heaviest of the cargo sleds. They had their wings folded in and had a stomping walk. Each had at least one high powered laser cannon that could easily spin in all directions and one pilot seated on the curved metal spine.  
Veela was one of the pilots, as riding a Basilisk was a high honor reserved only for those Mandalorians that had been proven in battle. Canderous kept giving the metal things longing looks, which Revan didn't really understand. She couldn't imagine being that reliant on a machine in battle. Though she supposed she was very reliant on her lightsaber, and to a Mandalorian, a Basilisk was the equivalent of the Jedi blade.

Unfortunately, Veela set a pace that had Revan sweating within minutes. She couldn't decide whether that was good or bad with the freezing wind. Still, it did help get rid of any remnants of her hangover.  
When they finally stopped for lunch, Revan's legs felt like Andorian jelly. All she wanted to do was eat and rest before they had to get going again, but like before, people just kept coming to talk to Canderous. She considered ditching him to find a quieter spot, but that would require her to get up and move. Besides, she was hearing all sorts of interesting stories about her friend's past.  
It was obvious even to her that Canderous was once again a full fledged member of Clan Ordo, but something else was obvious too. Everyone seemed to know that they were not too far from the Mask, and that it had been the arrival of Canderous that had brought this sudden movement about.  
The break ended before Revan was really ready for it to, but she managed to use the Force to drag herself back to her feet. It had been a long time since she'd done something that required this amount of physical exertion, and she wasn't getting any younger.

It wasn't long before night began to fall, but Edric and his scouts had found a small valley that would be a decent place to stay the night. The camp was set up just as well as it had been taken down that morning, and Revan was glad to be in her sleeping bag about an hour later. It didn't take her long to fall asleep, they'd gone about thirty kilometers already.  
Later, she woke to the sound of someone outside the tent.  
"Someone's outside," She hissed at Canderous and threw a ration packet at his sleeping bag. It was only when the ration packet didn't make the sound of impact with the big man that Revan realized she was alone in the tent.  
She sat up and set her hand on her lightsaber hilt inside her bag, just in case, as the tent was opened.

Canderous entered and brought freezing wind with him. Revan let go of her lightsaber and crossed her arms.  
"Where've you been?"  
"Sorry, I wasn't trying to wake you," He replied as he zipped the tent back up and proceeded to crawl into his sleeping bag. He picked up the ration packet and gave her a quizzical look, but she ignored it.  
"You didn't answer my question."  
"Veela and I had some catching up to do." There was a grin behind that nonchalant tone, and Revan knew it. She was okay with it, of course. Canderous was like a brother to her, but it did make her a little homesick.  
As she snuggled back down into her sleeping bag, she thought of how Canderous was reunited with his love, but she'd had to leave hers behind with nothing but an excuse on a datapad. She wondered if Carth was thinking of her, but then she realized she was supposed to be hoping he wasn't. It would be easier for him if he didn't.  
She rolled over, suddenly uncomfortable.  
Carth had Dustil and Mission to keep him company now, and he was sure to be busy as an admiral now. He wouldn't be thinking of her now. Not like she was thinking of him, at least.  
The thought didn't help, and she rolled over again. It was going to be a long night.

It was earlier than Revan would have liked when they broke camp. She'd managed to fall back into a fitful sleep, but it wasn't nearly enough for the march she knew was coming. At least the grueling pace of it would get her mind off of what she'd left on Coruscant.

By lunch, Clan Ordo could see the Twin Spears in the distance, even with the constant blizzard swirling around them.  
"We're well inside Clan Jendri's territory." Veela surprised Revan by coming up behind her to sit on Canderous's other side. "Gotta stay sharp."  
"Do you think they know we're here?" Revan picked at her rations, vaguely wondering if it was one of the ones she'd thrown at Canderous. He was eying it warily, like he was expecting her to start tossing things at him again.  
"Hard to say." Veela looked between the two, obviously confused. "If they're anywhere near the Twin Spears, the scouts would have seen us by now. But it's a big territory. They could be a hundred kilometers away in any direction."  
"Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll never know we're here," Revan replied optimistically, but only got looks of condescension from both Mandalorians in return.  
"We Mandalorians have a saying." Canderous ripped open another packet. "A warrior who doesn't hope for battle has no hope during battle."  
"That's a good one." Revan found it ironic that a Mandalorian was telling her about winning battles. "But here's one I like: You can't los a battle you never fight."  
"You can't win it either." Veela glanced over at her smugly.  
Revan was tempted to say something like 'Maybe you all should remember that one', but she decided against it. She liked her face as it was, and wasn't looking for anyone to rearrange it at the current time.

Finally, about two hours after lunch, the column of Mandalorians had reached the Twin Spears and was setting up camp in between the two ice monoliths.  
"Sleep well!" Veela called when the camp was up. "Tomorrow Clan Ordo will claim its destiny!"

The attack came just before dawn. Revan's subconscious activated her danger sense only seconds before the sentries sounded the alarm. She moved to throw some stuff at Canderous, but he'd apparently spent another night with Veela. She knew he would be on the battlefield before she was, she quickly donned her clothes and grabbed her blaster pistols. Almost as an afterthought, she tucked her lightsaber into her coat, unwilling to go into battle without it completely.  
Already she heard shouts of war cries in harsh Mandalorian voices as she left her tent and charged to help Clan Ordo. There were a lot more on the side of Clan Jendri, and they all had all their clothes on...unlike several of the Mandalorians Revan had been hanging out with for the past couple days. However, there were only four Jendri Basilisks.  
But where were the Ordo Basilisks? Revan looked around, but then realized the Clan Ordo pilots, with Veela and Canderous among them, were pinned down in a way that they'd never be able to get to their Basilisks. If that kept up, Clan Ordo would be defeated for sure.  
Revan opened fire, dropping two enemy soldiers with her first two shots. She was using the Force to augment her aim, but she still knew blasters weren't enough to win this.  
She took off at a sprint right through the center of the camp, heading towards Veela and Canderous. She had to duck, dodge, and weave the whole way there, but not a single bolt toucher her.

Revan found her friends pinned down behind some sharp looking rocks. Still, she had a few meters to go before she could reach them, and one of the Jendri Basilisk pilots had noticed her. She took one more long stride before slamming onto her knees and sliding the rest of the way, well aware of the blaster bolts following right behind.  
Canderous grinned and slapped her on the shoulder. "Nice of you to join us."  
Almost in perfect sync, Canderous and Veela popped up to fire at one of the other Basilisks that had gotten a bit too close. Unfortunately, all they did was scare the pilot off.  
"Got any bright ideas?" Canderous called over to Revan, who had joined them. She realized what he was asking, and it wasn't just for a frag grenade to throw. He was asking if she had any strategies from the wars to use.  
"Have you tried shooting the pilots?" She answered, having no other real idea.  
"Easier said than done," Veela answered with gritted teeth.  
Unfortunately, Veela was right. The Basilisks themselves were heavily armored, and they also protected their riders very well.

A crazy idea that would probably get her killed now or later popped into Revan's head, and she elbowed Canderous. When he glanced over, she mimed a lightsaber, and he nodded.  
"I can create a distraction, but you'll have to move fast."  
"Whatever you're thinking, do it," Veela said. "If we don't get to our Basilisks, we're dead meat."

Revan took a deep breath, tossed one of her blasters away and drew her lightsaber in a split second. In the next, she was leaping onto the rocks and igniting the emerald green blade. Instantly, all four Jendri Basilisks turned on her, as she was obviously the biggest and most immediate threat.  
She'd fought plenty of the metal masses during the Mandalorian Wars, and old habits were coming back to her. She charged the nearest Basilisk, careful to be out of range out its blaster cannon. She zigzagged all the way to it and did the same sliding maneuver as before to get behind it. She leapt up and managed to slice off one of the stabilizing fins on the tail of the droid.  
The next thing she knew, the pilot was doing a trick that would have been difficult with a stabilizer, but was definitely next to impossible without it. It almost started to work, but it began to veer out of control. Revan took the opportunity and flipped onto the droid's back, grabbing onto the pilot's seat. The Mandalorian reached for her, but she easily avoided his grasp and slid her lightsaber through the dense seat and into his back.  
The Basilisk screamed in response as it as cut off from it's rider, as the mounts had symbiotic relationships with their pilots. It began to buck wildly, depsperate to get rid of Revan. The artificial intelligence that guided the droid suddenly sent it into a steep plunge straight at the ground.  
Revan managed to leap clear just before impact. The snow cushioned her fall, and she quickly rolled to her feet to face the remaning three Basilisks.

Unfortunately, the three Jendri Basilisks were circling high above her head. They'd clearly learned how to handle Jedi in the Mandalorian Wars, just as she had learned to handle them. Even she would be brought down eventually by a well coordinated attack.  
She spun her blade in a protective circle around herself just as a Basilisk piloted by Canderous came flying over her head. About a minute later, the other five Basilisks joined him and Revan took the chance to switch off her lightsaber.  
There were lots of fierce war cries coming from Canderous as he led Clan Ordo into victory, and it was only about five minutes later that Clan Jendri began to flee from the battle.

There was a loud thud as Canderous landed next to her and slid off of his Basilisk.  
"Better put that thing away before someone sees it up close." He nodded at the black hilt still in her hand.  
"Good idea." She quickly slid it back into her jacket.  
"I doubt anyone other than the pilots saw what happened, so we don't need to be spreading what you really are around the camp either."  
She rolled her eyes. "You think they'll be back?"  
"No."  
"You sure about that one?"  
"They fled the battle." Canderous grinned. "This is all our territory now." He slapped the metal monstrosity next to him. "Felt good to fly into battle again."  
"Where'd you get that thing anyways?"  
"Belongs to a young man named Grizzer. He still hasn't been tested in battle, so Veela told me I could use it if we ran into trouble."  
"When'd she tell you that?"  
"The other night."  
"You mean when you were sharing her tent and then terrified me in the middle of the night?"  
Canderous just shrugged with a smug smile.  
"What does Grizzer think about that?"  
"Veela's the clan leader. He does what she says."  
"Ans what's she going to say about me now?"  
"Guess we're going to find out." Canderous turned as Veela swooped down near them.

Veela didn't say a word until she was right next to them. Her expression showed no emotion at all.  
"Go help with the wounded. You Jedi are good at that, right?"  
Revan nodded.  
"After that get some rest. Both of you. Tomorrow we climb the first spear. Be ready to leave at daybreak." Her voice seemed calm enough, but there was a hard edge lying just underneath the surface that made Revan wonder if it would have been better just to let Clan Jendri win.


	8. Letters I've Written

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Carth sat at the wooden table in his small apartment. He'd read through most of the datapad that Revan had left, but now he was at the entry after she had rediscovered her identity.  
In a way, reading the journal entries was helping. He was able to function normally, and the only time he was completely focused on how she had just left him was when he was reading through the datapad. Dustil and Mission hung around a lot, when Dustil was there at least. Jolee was turning out to be a tough master.  
He sighed and tapped on the next entry.

I'm Revan.

That was it. He tried reloading it, but nothing changed. Usually her entries explained what she was thinking, but this was different. This was one sentence that had meant so much at the time. It had caused him to try to hate the woman he loved completely, and it had caused her a lot of pain.  
He'd never realized how much pain until he read this.  
Even the entry after her defeat of Mandalore the Ultimate explained how she didn't like what she'd become during the wars, but that she accepted it because it was what she had to do.  
But this...this was so much more. This echoed with pain and confusion.

He quickly tapped on the next entry, hoping to find out more.

Everything is starting to make sense. Why I have these visions, why the Jedi decided to 'train' me, why Bastila was always lecturing me about the dark side. But now Bastila is Malak's prisoner, and I'm just sitting here worried about whether or not he still likes me.  
Probably not. He probably hates me. I'd hate me too.

He set the datapad down and put his head in his hands. Revan had thought he hated her, and that hurt him deeply.

He sat back and stared emptily at the wall across from him. There was a holo of him and Dustil from when they'd been reunited on Telos next to one from Mission's last birthday. But in the middle was one that Mission had taken. It was after the awarding of the Cross of Glory ceremony. There had been a small party, and Mission had felt the need to holo everything. Now Carth realized how happy he was that she had.   
In the holo, Revan was grabbing on to him from behind while he was reaching for something unseen. They were both laughing, and Revan had a huge grin on. He remembered that. He remembered exactly how he had felt in that moment, and then he came back to the present.

If there's ever any word on where she's gone, he swore silently, I'm going to find her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be a Revan only chapter after the Jendri skirmish...but then I started listening to the song Nights in White Satin.


	9. Mandalore's Mask

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

The victory party lasted almost all night. For Clan Ordo, only six people had died, whereas twenty four of Clan Jendri had fallen. Veela had ordered all the bodies be in one massive funeral pyre, a Mandalorian tradition. The respect given to both sides was astonishing for a culture that was so brutal in everything they did.  
All around the pyre, Clan Ordo laughed and drank. It was the way they commemorated their fallen brothers and sisters, but Revan found it strange. As a Jedi, she was supposed to mourn any loss of life, so the boisterous manner of the Mandalorians unsettled her. Besides, she was wary of how Veela would react to having a Jedi in their midst. The other woman had never given the impression that she hated the Jedi, but she obviously didn't like the Republic. Hopefully Veela wouldn't try to find out who exactly Revan was. That could never end well for either of them.  
Revan would end up getting attacked by a planet led by Canderous' wife, and she'd be forced to kill a lot of them to escape. She might even die in the process, but that wasn't something she wanted to think about. 

Still, Edric and a few others that Revan really needed to figure out the names of made a point to include her in the conversation. Everyone knew she had helped distract the enemy Basilisks, and even destroyed one, but nobody really knew or cared how she'd done it. At least Veela and her pilots had decided to keep the whole Jedi thing to themselves.  
That was probably a good thing, but she couldn't help but notice the suspicious looks she was getting from the pilots. They might not know exactly who she was, but knowing she was a Jedi was clearly enough for them.

It was very late, or very early, when she finally crawled into her sleeping bag. She had been smart enough to only drink a fraction of what she'd hade before, so she felt somewhat alive still. She was surprised to hear Canderous stumble in only a few minutes later. He obviously hadn't restricted his drinking much.  
"I thought you'd be with Veela."  
"She's not to happy with me right now." He flopped down onto his sleeping bag and didn't make a move to get in. "I'll let her cool down for the night."  
"Sorry."  
"You did what you had to do. It was going to come out eventually."  
"How bad is it?"  
"Veela doesn't like Jedi, but maybe she'll just hold a grudge for a few days. Either that or she'll try to kill us on the climb tomorrow."  
Revan couldn't tell if he was joking.

The blizzard had gotten worse, if that was possible. Now Revan's hope of hopping on a Basilisk and flying up was gone, and she was staring straight up at the ice. It wasn't going to be a pleasant day.  
"Bad conditions for an ascent," Canderous grunted.  
"If you're scared, Edric can always take your place," Veela shot back.  
"The old man would probably have a heart attack halfway up." He grinned.  
"He's only a year older than you."  
"But I'm like fine wine. I get better with age."  
Revan rolled her eyes, but the playful teasing did ease up her worries some. Veela seemed to be in an alright mood, but the team set up didn't thrill Revan too much.

The group was made up of only Basilisk riders. Only Mandalorians that had seen Revan in action and knew what she was.  
At least Revan was part of Canderous's climbing party and not Veela's. It would have been incredibly embarrassing to die from being shoved off an ice pillar by an angry Mandalorian.  
They started the climb with each leader attached to the rest of their party with a long rope. The only way any progress was made over long stretches of time, and Revan began to long for the constant marching of the past few days.  
She was very warm under all her clothes, and if any of the other pilots wanted to knock her off, they'd have a very tough time doing it. The physical exertion and extreme concentration required for the climb would keep her safe for the time being.

Finally, they reached a level that the intense blizzard began to abate. Revan paused for a moment to admire the orange sun they could just now see over the completely white terrain. If Rekkiad weren't so hostile, it would have been beautiful. She took a deep breath and reached for the next handhold, pleased to see they were over halfway to the top after only five hours.  
About thirty minutes later, she wasn't so sure if that was a good thing. The air was beginning to thin, and she was already exhausted. Her pack of supplies, which had seemed light early that morning, was cutting into her shoulders and felt like it was going to pull her off the ice with its sheer weight. But all she could do was grit her teeth and continue on.

Suddenly, one of Veela's team, who had previously been ahead, slipped and fell. Revan felt her stomach drop, but the man only fell about ten meters before the rop caught him. He seemed dazed for a few minutes, and even when he tried to reach for the ice again, his pack and ropes had twisted in a way that made it impossible. Veela and her team began to climb down to help the man, so Canderous began moving again, knocking carefully against the ice with his pick.

Two hours later, Revan's team finally reached the top. Canderous was first, as he was the leader, so he quickly turned and grabbed Revan's arm to help her up. She did the same for the woman after her, and that woman did the same for the last member of their group, a man.  
Revan walked over to stand next to her big Mandalorian friend as they gazed across the flat plateau that was the top of the Spear. The other structure looked just the same, from her position at least.  
"Now what?" Canderous shouted. The wind was just as bad as it had been in her dream.  
"If this is the right peak, there should be an entrance around here somewhere," she yelled back. The wind suddenly caught her, but she grabbed onto Canderous's arm to catch her. He rolled his eyes, but didn't shove her away until she had her balance back.  
"An entrance to what?"  
She just shrugged in return, unsure of what to say. Her vision had shown her nothing more than she'd already told him, and she hadn't had any more since then.  
"Right, everyone put your backpack over here and start searching!" Canderous called to the others and dumped his pack on the ice. 

It wasn't long before Revan found herself kneeling over a small durasteel hatch. She grabbed the handle and pulled hard until, finally, the cover swung open to reveal a ladder that lead down into a dark tunnel.  
"You stay here and wait for Veela," Canderous said and slung a blaster carbine over his shoulder and shoved some glowsticks in his pockets. "We'll go check it out."  
Revan grabbed a few glowsticks, but since everybody there already knew she was a Jedi, she felt confident with her lightsaber. She studied the entrance, trying to remember something, but nothing came. What had brought Malak and her here? What was this place?  
Before she could really find anything hidden in her own mind, Canderous came over and dropped a glowstick down. It fell about thirty meters before bouncing to a stop.  
"After you." He gestured for her to lead the way.

She swung her legs over the side and slowly began the descent. Only a few rungs down, however, her head started to spin as memories swarmed her all at one time. She clung to the rungs, trying to regain her equilibrium.  
Deja vu was everywhere. She was sure this was the place, but the past was overlapping with the present. The sights, sounds, and smells started to swirl together as she saw Malak and not Canderous climbing down above her. She closed her eyes at that and increased her grip on the ladder.  
"You okay?" Canderous's voice echoed down the shaft.  
"My past is catching up with me." She shook her head a bit to get rid of the vertigo, but kept her eyes closed for a few more seconds. When she opened them, she was happy to see everything had stopped spinning. She took a deep breath and began climbing down again.

When she reached the bottom, Revan pulled out a glowstick and kept her other hand on her lightsaber hilt. Something about this place felt...wrong to her. Canderous grunted as he landed and pulled out another glowstick, the small tunnel illuminating only slightly more. The size forced them to walk in single file with the Jedi leading the way.  
Slowly, the air grew warmer, allowing for them to unbutton their thick coats and lower their hoods. But with the warmth came another familiar sensation: the dark side. It was faint enough that it was probably just an impression of something left long ago, but it still unsettled Revan. Had this been where she had taken her first true steps towards the dark side?

Eventually they reached a large circular chamber. In the center was a large stone crypt that reminded her of the tombs on Korriban.  
"What is this place?" Canderous's voice had lowered into a whisper.  
"I think it's a burial chamber of a Sith Lord." She glanced back at him. "Like on Korriban."  
"Why would they bury him here in this frozen wasteland?"  
"He was an exile. He fled here with a handful of his fanatically loyal followers many centuries ago. When he died, they carved out this secret chamber to inter him so his enemies couldn't find and desecrate his remains." The words tumbled from her mouth, and she was surprised to realize she knew exactly what she was talking about.  
"How do you know that?"  
She could only shrug in return. "I just know. Malak and I came here looking for this crypt. Someone must have told us about it."  
"You mean someone like Mandalore?"  
A memory crashed against Revan's mind, and she couldn't hold this one off.

Mandalore the Ultimate lay dying at her feet. Coughing on the blood welling up in his lungs, he reached up and peeled off his Mask, the most sacred symbol of his people.  
"It wasn't supposed to end like this," he said, his voice soft and low. "They promised me victory. Only now do I see how I was betrayed."  
Revan tilted her head to the side, puzzled. "What are you talking about?"  
"They tricked me. We were never meant to win this war. They ised me and my people to test the Republic's strength."  
"Who used you?"  
"The Sith."

The vision ended suddenly, but it had brought with it a whole host of others that crashed over her in the next few seconds.  
She staggered back and put her hand on the wall for support.  
"I remember."  
"What?" Canderous's voice had grown anxious. "What do you remember?"  
She didn't answer, but went to the sarcophagus in the center of the room. She held out a hand and channeled the Force to remove the lid with relative ease. She didn't let it drop though, and instead moved it off to the side and gently lowered it to the floor. She stepped up to peer inside the tomb.  
There was nothing but a small datacron that she was sure she had placed there lying by Mandalore's Mask. She picked up the Mask, and another memory was triggered.

"So Mandalore was telling the truth," Malak said.  
"Did you really think his last words would be a lie?" Revan asked.  
"Now what?"  
"Now we have our proof. The Sith are not extinct. They have to be stopped"  
"What about the Mandalorians?"  
"Without the Mask, they are nothing." She carefully placed the Mask inside the empty tomb before sealing it.

She was snapped out of the vision, but held up the Mask for Canderous to see.  
The big man walked over, looking as though he were the one having his memories handed back to him one at a time. He said nothing, but he reached out slightly for it.

"How dare you defile Mandalore's Mask with your filthy Jedi hands!" Veela's shrieking voice broke the silence and shocked the two friends out of their daze.  
Revan turned to see that Veela and the other Mandalorians were all armed, their weapons aimed at Canderous and herself.  
"Veela!" Canderous demanded. "What do you think you're doing?"  
"Put the Mask down, step away from the crypt, and hold out your hands where we can see them," She ordered Revan, the blasters turning to focus on the Jedi alone.  
She carefully did as Veela commanded.  
"Arven fought beside us," Canderous protested. "She led us to Mandalore's Mask. And you repay her with betrayal?"  
Veela laughed, and Revan was disturbed to notice an almost maniacal edge to the high noise. "Who are you to talk of betrayal? You turned your back on your people. And for what? To throw in your lot with Revan the Butcher?"  
"When did you find out?" Canderous's voice had gotten low.  
"Once she revealed herself as a Jedi, it was obvious. Especially with that name. Did you really think rearranging Revan into Arven would fool us?"  
"This isn't about her." Canderous stepped forwards casually, but Revan realized he was trying to position himself between her and the Mandalorians. "It's about me, isn't it?"  
Veela sneered, but didn't answer.  
"I'm not here to claim the Mask for myself. You're the rightful leader of Clan Ordo. I don't want to challenge you."  
"You still don't get it." Veela shook her head. "You should be our leader, not me! You were our greatest warrior! You were our champion! Our hero! When Mandalore fell, you should have been the one to take his place! Instead, you abandoned us. You abandoned me."  
"I'm sorry." His voice had taken on a pleading tone. "When our clan fell apart, I was lost. I had to get away. I didn't know what else to do."  
"You could have stayed and help piece it back together." Much to Revan's relief, Veela lowered her blaster.  
"Cin vhetin." Canderous stepped towards her again. "I can't undo the past, but I'm here now."  
"That's why I didn't tell everyone. I didn't want to destroy your reputation by telling them you fell in with Revan."  
"You didn't tell them because you were afraid they'd agree with me. Revan is not our enemy. Not now. Without her, Clan Jendri would have slaughtered us. Without her, we would never have found Mandalore's Mask. Revan has proved herself to be our sister; and what you are doing brings dishonor on our clan!"  
"No!" Veela insisted. "You're wrong! Clan Ordo might accept a Jedi, but not her. Anyone but her."  
"There's only one way to be sure. We have to let the whole clan decide."  
"That's not an option." She raised her blaster again. "Revan cannot leave this chamber alive."  
"You know her reputation. And mine," he warned. "Do you really think that, even with six of you, you can beat us?"  
"We're not here to kill you. Just her."  
"And you expect me to stand by and do nothing?" Canderous shook his head.  
"I expect you to join us!" Veela shouted. "You are Mandalorian! Clan Ordo is your family, not Revan. You have to choose: her or us."  
"It doesn't have to be this way. Lower your weapons. End this madness. We'll take the Mask back to camp together."  
"This is your last chance, Canderous!" Veela snarled. "Choose now."  
"You can't win this battle," Revan interjected softly. She didn't want to hurt Canderous's family.  
"We've killed dozens of Jedi during the war," Veela answered grimly.  
"I'm no ordinary Jedi."  
"Veela," Canderous pleaded. "Please don't do this."  
She sighed in resignation. "Kill them both."

Revan was already leaping into action, her lightsaber jumping into her hand and igniting. The Mandalorians opened fire at her, but she was already spinning the green blade in a protective twirl that deflected the bolts back at their owners.  
One hit the woman on Veela's left while Canderous grabbed Revan's arm and the two dived for cover behind the sarcophagus. Canderous popped up brefly to return fire, causing the group to split up. However, the room was empty of many places to hide, and two of his shots found their marks.  
Veela and the last two Mandalorians retreated back into the passage to regroup. They sent three grenades flying into the room that tumbled to a stop at the foot of the sarcophagus. At the last second, Revan threw the lid between the grenades and her and Canderous.  
The stone lid absorbed most of the shockwave before it exploded and threw the two off their feet and across the room.  
Revan stood up, but her balance was off and all she could hear was a high pitched whining.  
Veela and her team seized their advantage and opened fire at Revan, but she rolled clear seconds before the bolts could hit her square in the chest. However, she was forced into an awkward kneeling position as more blaster fire followed her.

Suddenly, Veela went down with a blaster bolt clear through the heart. Canderous had used their distraction to take her out from his flat position, distracting the last two survivors. Revan through her lightsaber, and it arced through both before they could recover from the shock of seeing Veela fall.  
She stood and caught the hilt with ease. Canderous was still, so she went over to check if he was wounded. She reached down and put a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of whatever reverie had held him so motionless.  
He said something, but Revan couldn't hear him, so she just shrugged.  
The big man got up and walked over to Veela. He knelt down and gently rolled her over. Tenderly, he closed her eyes and folded her hands over her chest.  
Then he rose again and said nothing, staring off into nothingness.

Revan went to stand next to him, and said, "I'm sorry." Her voice was distorted to her own ears, which had obviously been damaged by the grenade explosion. She said it again, louder this time, "I'm sorry."  
"Me too." Canderous continued to stare at something unseeable. "Me too."


	10. We're Not Going Home Yet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

"We shouldn't just leave them lying like this. It's disrespectful." Canderous finally spoke again, which somewhat relieved Revan. She nodded and the two set to work. They gathered up the bodies and lay them down side by side in the center of the room. Canderous did what he had done for Veela for all of them while Revan stepped back.  
Had there been any way to burn the bodies, she would have done that, per Mandalorian custom. But there was no way to light a fire in this room, so she simply waited for her friend to recover as much as he could. 

"What am I going to tell the others?" Canderous knelt beside the bodies and put his head in his hands.  
"Say we ran into unexpected resistance from guardian droids. Tell them they fought and died like true warriors," She replied softly.  
He nodded and stood before walking to the sarcophagus. He picked up Mandalore's Mask without looking at it and held out the datacron.   
"What's this?" His voice was slowly recovering it's normal tone.  
"It's a chronicle of the Sith Lord who was buried here. I think Malak and I found it last time we were here."  
"Do you remember what's on it?"  
"Mostly."  
"Tell me."

It was obvious Canderous was looking for a reason as to why Veela had betrayed him, but Revan knew what knowledge she had would do little to help. Still, she owed him enough to tell him.  
"His name was Lord Dramath the Second. A thousand years ago, his father, the original Lord Dramath, ruled over a planet called Medriaas. He was overthrown by another Sith named Lord Vitiate, who renamed the planet Nathema. With his father's dead, Dramath fled. He hid on Rekkiad with a few of his followers, who buried him here with the datacron."  
"So it has nothing to do with the Mask? You just decided to come here?" Canderous narrowed his eyes.  
"Actually, it has everything to do with Mandalore." She would have continued immediately, but she was still trying to piece together everything in her head for herself. She took a moment to gather the memories and thoughts that were just now returning to her, but she knew it would be a while before she had everything sorted.  
"Can we talk about it later?" She shook her head.  
Canderous looked like he wanted to say something, but just shrugged. "Let's get some rest. We can't make it back down tonight anyway. We can talk in the morning."

They set up their sleeping bags by the edge of the room, both unwilling to sleep near the bodies of Canderous's fallen comrades. Neither slept well, and Revan could tell Canderous was dreaming of his dead wife. She heard him say Veela once or twice as he was rolling around in his sleeping bag.  
She was having difficult thoughts of her own. So much of her life was still missing, making it next to impossible for things to sort themselves out. There was so much more she needed to remember, and now she realized finding Mandalore's Mask wouldn't help her as much as she had hoped.  
It took a long time, but she finally managed to fall asleep. But even then, she found her dreams to be centered around the mysterious world covered in electrical storms. This time though, everything seemed more vivid, more real. She was getting closer.

She woke up feeling no more refreshed than she had when she had first gone to sleep. Sleep was once again becoming no more restful than meditation, and within a few days she'd start looking like a corpse again, if this kept up.  
Canderous was already awake and pacing, though his attention was held by something in his hand.  
Revan stood and stretched, drawing his attention and allowing her to see that he was holding Mandalore's Mask.  
"I'm ready to tell you about Mandalore, if you still want to know."  
"I do."

"About two years before he declared war, Mandalore was approached by a red skinned man. A Sith."  
"I thought the Jedi wiped the Sith out."  
"So did they. The Sith species disappeared after the Great Hyperspace War, but this red-skinned being came to Mandalore. He said he was the emissary of a Sith Lord, the descendent of Lord Vitiate. He managed to convince Mandalore to help him find this tomb."  
As she spoke, her memories became more focused, supporting her words and allowing her to continue. There was still a lot missing, but her mind had massed what she had together in order to protect itself from further damage.  
"Mandalore helped the Sith find this crypt. When the Sith took the remains to give to his master, he told Mandalore of a vision of a galaxy ruled by the Mandalorians. He claimed that your people would go from planet to planet, crushing all who stood in their path until the Republic collapsed. He promised glorious victory, and Mandalore believed him."  
"Mandalore the Ultimate wouldn't lead us into a war against the Republic just because some stranger told him we'd win."  
"He wouldn't." She nodded. "But this stranger used the dark side to manipulate Mandalore's mind. Only when he lay dying at my feet did he realize he'd been tricked. That was when he told me about this place. That's why I brought Malak here, to see if it was true, that the Sith lived."  
"But why? Why would the Sith trick Mandalore to attack the Republic?"  
"I'm not sure," She admitted. "It could have been a test of your strength, or ours. Maybe they wanted to weaken the Republic for another invasion."  
"But you don't know for certain."  
"I'm remembering more and more, but there's still so much missing." She paused, but then continued, "Maybe I'll find the answers on Nathema."  
"The hyperspace coordinates on the datacron." She gestured at the little thing. "I think Malak and I went there to try to learn more."  
"Is that the world you keep dreaming about?" Canderous asked.  
"No." That at least, she was certain of. "The planet in my dreams isn't Nathema."  
"You're sure?"  
"Mostly, but I can't be sure of anything. I think that planet is after Nathema."  
"After that planet, you returned and tried to conquer the galaxy, just like Mandalore."  
"It's not the exact same though. Mandalore was a warrior who probably already had fantasies of crushing the Republic. Malak and I were the Jedi heroes of the Republic. It would have taken a lot more than some Force persuasion to turn us to the dark side. Something else must have happened. We must have found something terrible."  
"You don't think going back will be a little risky?" He crossed his arms.  
"I have to. It's the only way I'll ever find out what happened."  
"What if it happens again?"  
"I'll be more careful, and if that doesn't work, it'll be up to you if Darth Revan returns."  
He paused at that, considering her words. He wasn't entirely sure he would be able to stand against her if she chose that path again.  
"Canderous, if I come back with another army, I will defeat the Republic if they stand alone."   
He hesitated, but then nodded. "What do you want me to do?"  
"Veela was right about one thing. You're the leader the Mandalorians need. The Mask is in your hands. All you have to do is claim it."  
"I turned my back on Veela when she needed me. Maybe staying here would do the same to you, if going back to Nathema and the storn covered world would turn you back into a Sith Lord."  
"No. This is something I have to do alone, and I don't come back, you have to keep your people strong. If the Sith really are planning another invasion, they'd have to come through Mandalorian space."  
"I get it, I get it." He looked down at the Mask in his hands and then looked at her face again searchingly. "But you'd better come back, or Onasi is going to kick my butt."  
She smiled a bit, and nodded. "I'll try."  
"Maybe when he's done kicking my butt, we'll come get you." He stood up straight and looked at the Mask again. Slowly, he held it up and slipped it over his head. "I am Mandalore the Preserver, and I will restore the honor and glory of my people!"

 

T3-M4 was waiting for Revan when she returned to the Ebon Hawk. The little droid greeted her with a flurry of beeps and whistles and began spinning around."  
"Settle down, T3!" She laughed. "I'm glad to see you too."  
He stopped spinning and chirped a question.   
"Canderous is staying with his people. This is where he belongs."  
T3 beeped twice.  
"No, we're not going home yet." She settled into Carth's chair and began entering the coordinates from the datacron. "We're going to the Unknown Regions, to a world called Nathema."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next is my first Scourge chapter...we'll see how it goes.  
> Also, if people are reading this, I'd love feedback! If not here, you can drop a comment on my tumblr: starless-knight-revan!


	11. Scourge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Scourge was a Sith Lord, born and raised in the long hidden Sith Empire that had formed from the ashes of what was left after the Great Hyperspace War. He was red skinned, had face tentacles, and carried a blood red lightsaber. He'd always served his Emperor well.  
Until now. Now he had been placed under the command of Darth Nyriss, a female Sith member of the Dark Council, and she had shown him many things. She had shown him that his true power came from the hatred and agony of his victims, and that he must draw on that to become invincible. She had shown him the path to power. She had shown him a traitor to the Empire, and he had eliminated one of the longest standing members of the Dark Council. She had shown him he could destroy Darth Xedrix, and he had.  
But she had promised to show him more, though he was wary. This time, she had promised to show him that his Emperor, who he had long served very willingly, was insane.   
Nyriss had told him about the origins of the Emperor on the planet Nathema, and how he was unstable and would lead the Sith to their demise in another failed war against the Jedi. Scourge was not too keen on being consumed by a crazed Emperor who would lead the Sith to their doom, so he had agreed to see Nathema for himself and then decide whether or not to join Nyriss's plot to overthrow the Emperor.  
Now Nyriss was piloting them on a trip that would mean certain death if they were found out. He didn't trust her, but he was smart enough to realize she would have killed him by now if that was her goal, and there would be much easier ways of doing it that wouldn't require her to lift a finger.

"Nothing I can tell you can prepare you for what you will see on Nathema," She said as she engaged the hyperdrive. "But I can tell you the history of the Emperor and his homeworld."  
"How can I know you're telling the truth?"  
"Believe it or not as you see fit. If nothing else, it will help pass the time."  
When Scourge didn't protest, she launched into her tale with no more delay, though the light tone her voice had taken on was somewhat disturbing.   
"The Emperor's name was Tenebrae. They say he was born with eyes as black as the void of empty space, and that he never cried, even as an infant. No animal would come near him, and when he began to talk, his voice came with a weight and power that should not come from a child.  
At the age of six he began to manifest signs of the Force, marking him as one of the ruling elite. But his parents were simple farmers, and the Force was not with either one of them. Suspicious about the boy's power, his father confronted his mother, who admitted to having an affair with the Sith Lord who ruled them.  
The father flew into a rage, attacking the boy's mother. Tenebrae stopped him, feeding on his father's anger and hate to call upon the dark side for the first time. He snapped his father's neck with a mere thought, killing him instantly. His mother died more slowly. He made her suffer for months as punishment for betraying the family, torturing her with the Force as he honed his powers.  
Now orphaned by his own hand, he made the others in his village bow down to him. Those who refused, he tortured and killed through the Force.  
Over the next few years, his reputation and influence spread to nearby villages, and he amassed legions of both fanatical and terrified followers. He killed thousands during his rise to power. Many died just to feed his insatiable appetite for suffering, tortured for days in public so he could savor their agony before he finally killed them."  
"This sounds more like a legend than a history."  
"I cannot guarantee the truth of this story. Those who witnessed the events no longer live to verify them. But if you had ever met the Emperor in person, you would not be so hesitant to accept the tale as fact."  
"What about Nathema's ruler? The boy's father? You claimed he was a Sith Lord. Surely he didn't sit back and do nothing while a child conquered his people village by village."  
"Tenebrae's father was named Lord Dramath. He heard rumors, but they came from a remote and insignificant territory. He had long forgotten the simple commoner who had born him a son, and he considered the plight of a few villages beneath his notice. Had Dramath acted more swiftly, the Emperor might have been stopped. But it took almost four years before he decided to go see Tenebrae himself.  
Lord Dramath intended to judge the child's power to determine if he was worthy of serving the Sith Lord, or if he should simply be executed. But Tenebrae had no intention of serving, or of dying. When they met face-to-face, Tenebrae proved the stronger. Only ten years old, he stripped his father of his power and his mind. Lord Dramath spent his last moments weeping in terror, gazing up into the black eyes of his son.  
It took Tenebrae three more years to gain control of the rest of Nathema. Dramath's firstborn son fled rather than face his formidable half brother, but other powerful Sith sought to seize the throne. All fell before the dark prodigy, and with each victory he grew more powerful and more ruthless.  
At thirteen he presented himself to Marka Ragnos, the Lord of all Sith and the ruler of the Sith Council. Impressed by the teenager's ambition and power, Marka Ragnos granted him the title of Lord Vitiate. His position as ruler of Nathema officially recognized, Lord Vitiate returned to his home to conduct his research into the depths of the dark side's power.  
He stayed there for a hundred years. When Marka Ragnos fell, Lord Vitiate did not join in the mad rush to claim his position. He was not part of the Great Hyperspace War against the Republic. When Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh fought for leadership of the Sith, he took no side. But in the aftermath of the war, after our defeat at the hands of the Jedi, he emerged from his solitude to call a great council of all the remaining Sith Lords. He invited them to his palace on Nathema, built on the site of his childhood home. He invited them to participate in a ritual to unlock the full potential of the dark side; he promised them they would unleash power beyond anything they had ever witnessed or imagined."  
"Didn't they suspect a trap?"  
"Perhaps. Some refused to answer his call. But many more came. After all, what could one man do against a hundred Sith Lords? He was merely Lord Vitiate, ruler of a single planet of no particular importance. He hadn't fought in any battles of note or achieved any great victories or conquests beyond his homeworld. He had the reputation of a scholar, not a warrior.  
And the Sith Lords were driven by fear. Many thought the Jedi would soon wipe them all out. They were desperate, and Lor Vitiate played on their fears, convincing them to answer his call.  
Once they arrived on Nathema, they quickly fell under Lord Vitiate's control. He dominated their minds and crushed their resistance. He turned them into slaves of his will, forcing them to participate in the most complex ritual of Sith sorcery ever attempted. Calling on the dark side, Lord Vitiate devoured them. He fed on their power, absorbing it into himself, utterly obliterating all traces of his victims.  
But the ritual was not confined to the doomed Sith Lords. They were but the eye of the storm; the center of a vortex that spread across the entire planet. Every man, woman, and child on Nathema died that day. Every beast, burd, and fish; all the insects and plants; every living being touched by the Force was consumed. Nathema was no longer a world. It was a husk sucked dry. Lord Vitiate sacrificed millions, stealing their life forces to make himself immortal and almost infinitely powerful. On that day, the Emperor was truly born."

The story was a good one, and impressive, but Scourge felt no change of heart towards the Emperor. "The Emperor seized what was his by right. The strong take from the weak. That is our way. Doing it on a scale of millions doesn't change anything, it just proves he deserves to be our Emperor."  
"So I used to think." Nyriss smiled a disgustingly horrific smile. "Until I saw Nathema for myself."

The rest of the trip was spent in silence. Scourge was doubtful of Nyriss's obvious confidence in her ability to sway him. So far he had little evidence the Emperor was insane.  
However, when they dropped out of hyperspace, he began to realize something was...unnatural about Nathema. The planet was nothing but a grayish brown rock that gave off a feeling of emptiness.  
It was several minutes before he pinpointed the exact nature of this emptiness; it was a gap in the Force. He simply wasn't feeling the Force. For the first time in his entire life, he was without the Force entirely. There were times when his connection had weakened for certain, but this went beyond that. This was nothingness. This was the void.

"Prepare yourself." Nyriss's voice broke him from his shock. "We're going down to the surface."  
As they drew closer to the planet, the Force seemed to disappear more and more until finally there were not even the barest hints of anything living.  
"Come with me." Nyriss didn't wait for his answer, but he followed silently.  
They were in an abandoned spaceport that echoed with pure silence that unsettled even Scourge. No wind lightly brushed his skin, no hint of warth surrounded him. It was utter nothingness, and he was beginning to shiver.  
"You feel the chill of the Void. The Force is energy; it gives heat to our emotions and minds. But here it does not exist."

He followed the Dark Council member through the empty city, allowing him time to grasp the concept of what had truly transpired here. There was almost no visible damage, but everything was destroyed and all of it, including the sun, was a dull grayish brown. There were broken and crashed speeders everywhere, all accompanied by piles of clothing. The piles were everywhere, and it was with a jolt that Scourge realized what they were.   
"Where are the droids?" His voice even sounded changed, as though it had lost all tone and had become like the world around him.  
"The ritual overloaded their circuits." Her voice sounded every bit as flat as his. "The damage was irreparable, even their memory cores were completely wiped out."

"I've seen enough." He had made his choice. If this was the path the Emperor would have for the rest of the galaxy, including the Sith, he was insane. He could not consume all of the Force. He had to be stopped.

When they returned to the shuttle and took off, Scourge had to hold in his previous meals. He was sickened by the lack of the Force, but as they drew farther away from the surface, he felt the Force rushing back in around him. He felt restored, and grateful.  
But there was something else too. A powerful presence in the Force that was much too powerful for both Nyriss and himself.  
She began scanning for another vessel, and it was obvious she had felt it too.

"There." She pointed. "A ship just dropped out of hyperspace in this system."  
"Could the Emperor have sent someone to follow us?"  
"I don't think so. It's signature doesn't match any design I've seen before." She was obviously confused by this newcomer. The odds of two ships showing up in a lost place like this were such that Scourge was sure even a droid couldn't calculate them. The only explanation was that the Force had somehow been involved.  
"Looks like a small freighter of some kind. I don't think they've seen us."  
There were two options: leave before they were noticed, or blast the newcomer out of the sky.   
Nyriss obviously like blasting.

When the Ebon Hawk dropped out of hyperspace and she laid eyes on Nathema, a multitude of memories began crashing at Revan's mind. Old trauma and memories mixed with new trauma and a confused and half broken mind. She cried out and clutched her head in her hands, and didn't move for several long moments. She took the memories and quickly stored them for later. At least she was sure she'd been here, and it had some relevance to her search.  
She remembered the gray-brown world that was nothing. She remembered searching for new coordinates with Malak. She remembered a destroyed world that was somehow mostly intact, and she remembered not feeling the Force for the first time ever. It had been a terrifying experience.

She suddenly heard concerned beeping coming from beside her chair, and it took her a minute to realize it was T3. She looked down at the sensors to see what was so worrying, and immediately wished she hadn't. There was another ship already there, but the Force was so drained from the area that she couldn't really get much about the inhabitants of the other vessel.   
The ion blast was a dead center hit that shorted out the Hawk's circuits and throwing them into the gravitational pull of Nathema. 

Revan desperately pulled on the steering stick of her ship, some small part of her realizing the irony of crashing on two planets in a row. If she survived, that had to be a new record.   
No matter how much she tried, the ship's controls and sensors were gone. There was very little she could do.

"Tee-Three!" She screamed, but her faithful droid had already begun to help. He was slicing into the ship, causing the lights to flicker on and off, but whatever he was doing, it wasn't fast enough. The skyscrapers were growing faster and faster in the window, and for once in her life, Revan could do nothing to save herself.

Something sparked, but T3's shrieks of excitement were cut off by the Ebon Hawk suddenly jerking back to life.  
Revan seized the sterring stick and pulled back as hard as she could, dragging a slow response out of the old smuggling ship. But it still wasn't enough.  
"Brace for impact!" She yelled and grabbed on to the console right before they crashed hard into the side of one of the buildings. The ship bounced off and slammed hard onto the street below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, a lot of the dialogue is from the actual book-including about 99.9% of the Emperor's story because Nyriss and Scourge are still the exact same whether or not Revan is male.


	12. Caught

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

When Nyriss turned the ship to return to Nathema, Scourge kept his disapproval to himself. However, he did want to know who it had been to find the planet at the same time they had. Most of his hesitation came from his dread to be separated from the Force again, but Nyriss obviously didn't care. They had to find out if the crew of the ship was still alive, at least.  
The two Sith found the downed freighter by following a trail of destruction until they came across the actual vessel. Shockingly, it looked surprisingly intact for a ship that had caused so much wreckage.  
"Anybody alive in there?" Normally he wouldn't have had to ask, the Force would have told him.  
"I'm picking up readings of an organic life form on board." Nyriss pointed at a small holo screen that Scourge really couldn't care less about.  
She landed carefully, though nothing had changed about the other craft in their approach, so it was doubtful whoever or whatever was on board was able to attack.  
"Search the interior," Nyriss ordered. "I'll wait here." She leanded back in her chair and crossed her arm.

As Scourge approached the alien ship that was painted an odd combination of white and orange, he realized he was afraid. Fear was not an emotion he had felt in a very long time, even when he had been facing Darth Xedrix. But here he did not have the Force to protect or warn him of any danger, and it made him feel naked. Whatever awaited him surely had the upper hand.  
He shoved the access panel on the outside of the hull and waited as the boarding ramo slowly descended. He drew his lightsaber as he entered the vessel, but did not ignite it until he was inside the entrance. The familiar hum of the blood red blade calmed him and reassured the Sith Lord of his own abilities. However, the blade itself felt weaker, as though the void that was Nathema was affecting it, which he realized was actually very possible.  
He walked carefully through the halls of the medium sized ship, taking in the beat up look of the storage rooms and crew bunks until he finally reached the cockpit.

There he found the organic life form was indeed a female human who looked to be in her late thirties strapped into the pilot's seat. She wore simple brown robes and was either unconscious or dead, Scourge really couldn't tell. She was thin and rather tall with straight dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. What drew his attention however was a deep gash on her forehead that blood was oozing from. Something must have bounced around in the crash and hit her.  
He put two fingers on the side of her neck to check for a pulse, knowing Nyriss would want to interrogate her if possible. There was a pulse, so he began to reach for her restraints when he saw what hung from her belt.  
Immediately, he seized the black lightsaber hilt and hung it on his own belt, wary. There was no way for him to gauge this woman's power, but it she had been the presence he had sensed earlier, he wouldn't take any chances.  
Scourge finished unclipping the woman's restraints and slung her over his shoulder. Nyriss would definitely want to interrogate a Jedi.

It took him longer to return to his own shuttle with the woman slung over his shoulder, but he increased his pace. The lack of the Force was beginning to affect him again, and he felt slightly sick.  
Nyriss was waiting at the top of the boarding ramp, but he ignored her to unceremoniously drop the woman onto the floor. Before he could show Nyriss the lightsaber though, she narrowed her eyes and spoke.  
"I know this woman. Her name is Revan. She's a Jedi and a Republic spy."  
"A Republic spy?" Warning bells went off in his head. "If the Jedi know we exist, they will come for us. They will try to finish the extermination of our species that they began with the Great Hyperspace War!"  
"Our existence is still hidden." She shook her head. "Revan and another Jedi, named Malak, discovered Dromund Kaas by accident. They were captured before they could return and report their findings to the Republic."  
"When did all this happen?"  
"Five years ago. The Emperor sentenced Revan to death."  
"Then what's she doing here?"  
"I don't know." Nyriss shrugged, but furrowed her brow. "But she couldn't have escaped the citadel's dungeons unless the Emperor allowed it. It stands to reason she wouldn't still be alive if she weren't working for the Emperor."  
"How is that possible? The Jedi are our sworn enemies."  
Nyriss didn't answer, and instead ordered, "Watch her closely. She is powerful and extremely dangerous."  
"Why don't we just kill her?"  
"Not yet. Not until we know why she is here. We'll take her back to my stronghold for questioning."  
"I've never interrogated a Jedi." Scourge looked down at the woman curiously and smiled. "I'm looking forward to it."

 

Revan woke up strapped to a cold metal chair in some sort of cell. It wasn't the first time, and she resigned herself to the fact it probably wouldn't be the last. She had no idea where she was, but at least she was alone.  
She took a moment to take stock of her situation. Her wrists were bound to the arms of the chair, and her ankles to the legs. Her mind felt like it had been hammered and then dragged through a mud pit, so she assumed she'd been drugged with some kind of sedative. It was very difficult to focus, so difficult that she really couldn't reach out to the Force.  
She grimaced. So much for being home soon.

The metal door slid open, and two red skinned figures entered. One was female and old, the other male and young. Something about them set off little alarms in her slowed mind, and it took several moments for her to piece everything together.  
"Sith." Her voice was hoarse and cracked.  
"Welcome back, Revan." The old female's face cracked into a wicked grin.  
She narrowed her eyes, wondering if she'd ever met this particular Sith before.  
"Do I know you?"  
The male casually stepped forwards and just as casually backhanded Revan across her face.  
"We don't have time to play games," he said with a voice that was chillingly calm.  
She frowned as she tasted blood. That had been a vicious smack, sort of like the ones she's used to deliver when she'd claimed the title of Sith Lord. It was a sick sort of irony, especially because the drugs had no affect on how she felt pain.

"I don't think it's a game." The female tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "I think she's actually forgotten me."  
Then she leaned closer to Revan's face. "What happened to you, Revan? Where did you go? Why did you return?"  
Revan resisted the urge to roll her eyes, as it probably would have come across like she were having a seizure in her current addled state.

The female Sith waved to an interrogation droid Revan hadn't even realized was in the cell. It floated over and extended a needle into her neck. She grimaced, but then it released an electrical charge powerful enough to elicit a scream.  
The male gestured for the droid to back off before asking, "What happened to your partner? Malak?"  
"I killed him."  
"Why?"  
"It's complicated."  
The male's cold calm didn't change, but the female smiled gruesomely.  
"Eventually you'll tell us everything we need to know," he whispered into Revan's ear.  
"Maybe." She smiled cheerfully back. "But I'm going to make you work for it."

Four hours later, Nyriss ordered Scourge to take a break. The prisoner clearly wasn't cracking anytime soon, as she hadn't given any more information as to what had happened to her after she'd left Dromund Kaas, or even how she'd escaped in the first place.  
When the two Sith exited the cell, Nyriss turned to Scourge and demanded, "How much longer until she breaks?"  
Scourge thought about if for a moment. Even at a young age, he'd had a knack for torture and reading a prisoner. He knew pain wasn't enough. Pain alone would gather only half truths and desperate words, but add mercy to the mix and the prisoner was much more susceptible to his workings. Even with strong subjects, his methods worked within hours. Until now.  
Interrogating the Jedi was one of the most frustrating thing he'd ever done. She had a will and connection to the Force stronger than Scourge had ever seen, even stronger than Nyriss. Even drugged and in agony, the prisoner was able to use her connection to allow herself to endure through every technique Scourge had ever come across.  
But that wasn't all.  
Nyriss wanted to know things about Revan's time on Dromund Kaas, her relationship with the Emperor, and why she'd been at Nathema. But there was nothing there. Sure, Revan was resisting and she was strong, but it was as though she wasn't entirely sure for herself. It was something Scourge had never before encountered.

"We might be wasting our time." He finally just shrugged. "Her pain threshold is high, but we're already at the limits of what a human can endure. If I press any harder, I might kill her. I could question her for months, but the information you want simply isn't there." He shrugged again.  
"That is unfortunate." Nyriss sighed dramatically. "I was hoping to verify my theory."  
"What theory?"  
"The Emperor has the ability to dominate and enslave the minds of his servants." She glanced back at the Jedi's cell door. "I suspect that instead of destroying her like he had proclaimed, the Emperor turned Revan into a puppet and sent her back to the Republic to gather information."  
"If he's had a servant gathering information on the Republic for five years, he must be closer to launching his invasion than we thought." Scourge found that he was alarmed at the danger the whole Sith Empire had been in without knowing it.  
Nyriss shook her head and looked at the cell again, as though simply looking would allow her to find the secrets of Revan's past. "The Emperor is more patient than that. He was lived for almost a thousand years and very well may live for another ten thousand more. He would not leave something like this to chance. We still have time. Revan may still be of use to us."  
"How so?"  
"You said it yourself; something happened to her mind. Her memories are lost, but so is her knowledge of any loyalty to the Emperor. Whatever happened to her freed her from the Emperor's control. If we can learn how this happened, we may be able to use such knowledge to bring the Emperor down. Remember that all his most loyal followers are under his spell. Breaking that spell and turning his guards against him would be our best chance against him, which means we need Revan alive to study her. She is too valuable a resource to simply throw away."  
Scourge frowned. "It could take years before we learn what happened to her."  
"The Emperor is not the only one who can be patient."


	13. Four Years Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Carth poured some Tarisian ale as his visitor seated herself on his couch. This wasn't the first time he'd talked to the Jedi Exile, after all, they'd met on Citadel Station after she had saved his home planet of Telos from the hunger of Darth Nihilius.  
But this time was different. This time, she had something real to show him about Revan. It had been a long four years. When the Jedi had begun to vanish, he'd sent Dustil, Jolee, Mission, and Bastila into hiding. He'd tried to convince Juhani to go too, but the Cathar had been too stubborn. He'd gotten word of her mysterious death only a month before the Sith were revealed to be at large again.  
Had Revan been there, he was sure the Republic would have defeated Darth Sion, Traya, and Nihilius much earlier. It was luck, really, that one of Revan's best friends and generals had returned before all the Jedi were destroyed and the Republic with them. Without Meetra Surik, Carth knew the Republic Revan had fought so hard for would have been long gone.

Now the Jedi hero who had been so close to the love of his life was sitting in Carth's little apartment, waiting for him to come back to the living area. He was hesitant though, wary of what she might tell him about Revan.  
Meetra and Bastila were talking, so at least he wasn't being rude.  
He couldn't help but think about how insane he would have gone during the war without Dustil and Bastila and Mission. He had been so determined to protect them that he hadn't allowed thoughts of much else to enter his mind.  
But now he could. Now he could concentrate on finding Revan and bringing her back from wherever she was.

Carth took a deep breath and scooped up the three glasses to carry to the living area. He carefully set them on the small table that sat in front of the couch and took a seat in a chair by the window.

Bastila and Meetra were hitting it off, complaining about old habits of Revan's. Clearly both women held much affection for her, and they had both been Revan's best friends during both wars.   
Bastila still looked the same, with her hair pulled back into a bun and two ponytails, but she was wearing a plain Jedi robe rather than her armor. Meetra also was in Jedi Robes, but Carth didn't know if that was strange or not. She had light blond hair that was about shoulder length, and was several years older than Bastila.  
"Did she still insist on tinkering with droids even during the Mandalorian Wars?" Bastila took one of the glasses and narrowed her eyes at it. "Admiral Onasi, you know I don't drink."  
Meetra nodded and took a glass too, but instead of being rude, she took a sip. "Thank you."  
Carth smiled awkwardly and ignored Bastila before asking, "Exile, you said we needed to talk?"  
The Jedi Master grew serious and nodded. "I know you said you didn't want to hear where Revan had gone, but I think you need to see what T3 has recorded. He wouldn't show it to me, but insisted you see it."  
The little droid Carth hadn't ever expected to see again rolled over and beeped affirmatively.  
"Go ahead." He nodded at the little droid. Meetra and Bastila had every right to see whatever it was, as they may as well have been part of the family Revan had thrown together over the years.

T3 began by beeping and whistling about how Revan had left Canderous on Rekkiad because he had to help his people or something, and Carth had to cut in.  
"So Revan was the one who set him up as Mandalore?"  
Meetra nodded. "I was surprised too when I found out."  
"Can we please allow Tee-Three to continue his story?" Bastila cut in.  
The droid didn't wait for an answer and instead continued. He described how they had gone on to Nathema and then started a holo recording.

Revan was reaching over the controls on the Ebon Hawk as the hyperdrive was disengaging, but as soon as she looked at something through the cockpit window that wasn't visible, she gasped and doubled over. For several minutes, she was sitting with her eyes squeezed shut and her hands gripping her head as though it was about to explode.  
The holo began to zoom in on Revan, and it took Carth a moment to realize that meant T3 had been getting closer. Urgent beeps and chimes began coming from the recording, drawing Revan out of whatever agony she was in. She sat up straight and looked over at a display, but almost as soon as she did the recording went into static for several moments.  
Nobody spoke until it started again.  
Now Revan was slumped over the control panel, and her ship was no longer in space. It was tilted at an odd angle, and T3 was rolling into a small hatch he propped open so he could keep a look out on the cockpit.  
A few moment later, a red skinned man entered, drawing gasps from both Meetra and Bastila.  
He walked over to Revan and checked if she was still alive, took her lightsaber, and hauled her over his shoulder.   
The recording ended with a shot of Revan's limp form being carried away by someone who was clearly not her ally.

"I guess the Sith aren't as extinct as the Jedi thought," Meetra's voice was soft as she continued to stare at the space the holo had taken up.  
"The Order is wrong again," Bastila muttered, "Big surprise."  
Carth could only stare in horror as the others continued to talk. Revan was alive, maybe, but she was a prisoner of a Sith. And if there was one Sith, there were many. That would mean what she had gone to find was a whole empire, but that whole empire probably had her in horrible dungeons.  
He changed his mind then. He didn't just want Meetra to tell Revan that he was waiting for her, he wanted to go tell Revan himself. He wanted to get in the Ebon Hawk and blast off after her, and he could.

He got up and silently went to the bedroom where he commed Admiral Dodonna.  
"Carth, I trust everything is okay?"  
"It couldn't be less okay, to be honest..." And he began to inform her all about what he had just seen.

"That's grave news indeed."  
"Yeah. I'm going to find Revan, and I'll let you know where the Sith are so you can bring the fleet."  
"We'll be waiting for your call." And with that, Dodonna hung up.

Carth reentered the living area to find Meetra and Bastila still in deep conversation, but they both looked up when he came back.  
"I'm going to Nathema and then I'm going to go kill some Sith," he informed the two Jedi women. "You can come if you want, and once we get Revan Dodonna is going to bring the fleet."  
Bastila nodded. "I will come with you."  
"Me too." Meetra grinned. "And I've got an idea of two more Jedi who might want to come with us."

While Meetra went to contact whoever the others were, Bastila sat Carth down to give him a lecture.  
"We have to be prepared for the idea that Revan is dead."  
"She's not dead!" He growled.  
"Carth, you need to accept that it is a-"  
"No, it's not a possibility! You know, when we were on Taris, we kept looking for you even when you were probably dead. And you know what? We both wanted to go after you on the Star Forge. I can't believe you'd just give up on her."  
"I'm not giving up on her." Bastila was raising her voice too. "I was simply stating that the Sith might have destroyed the obvious threat she presented already."  
"No!" He stood.  
"Clearly you have too many emotions involved in this, so maybe you should stay while Meetra and I find Revan! Your son is still here and-"  
He cut her off again, "Dustil is a man now and a Jedi Knight. He'll be okay if I don't come back, but I am going to come back and I'm bringing Revan with me!"  
Before Bastila could respond, the door to the hallway closed and Meetra cleared her throat.  
Bastila crossed her arms and looked self righteous, and Carth glared.  
"I'm going to make this clear now: I'm not going on a trip with you two if this is going to happen again. I refuse to listen to a Jedi Knight and a Republic Admiral argue like teenagers over whether or not Revan is dead when we all know she isn't." She paused. "One of us would have felt it if she'd been killed, I'm sure."  
Bastila looked at the floor, and Carth nodded.  
"Who were you talking to?" He changed the subject.  
"Two friends of mine and Mandalore."  
"What two friends?"  
"Jedi Knights Atton Rand and Mical. They're going to meet us tomorrow at the Ebon Hawk." Something in the Jedi Master's expression changed, but Carth couldn't place it and he didn't want to pry.  
"Why Mandalore?"  
"So he can meet up with your fleet. The Mandalorians want to get revenge for the Mandalorian Wars, so why not let them loose on the people who tricked their leader?" She shrugged.  
It was a good tactic, Carth could agree with that. But he didn't get along well with Canderous, even though the big Mandalorian was another one of Revan's best friends.

T3 beeped and bumped up against Meetra's leg, so she looked down.  
"What about the planet?"  
After several more whistles and beeps, Bastila cut in impatiently, "What is he saying?"  
Meetra held up a finger and continued to listen to the astromech until he'd finished.  
"No droids either?"  
There was an affirmative whistle.  
She looked up, troubled.  
Carth raised an eyebrow and gestured for her to share with them whatever T3 had told her.  
"He says the planet Revan was on in the holo is called Nathema, and it's completely empty. Empty as in there are no life forms at all, and no droids."  
Bastila shook her head. "That's impossible."  
"Tee-Three should know, Bastila. He was on the planet for almost a year before he was able to repair the ship enough to get it into space again. He'd been looking for you, Carth, when he found the pieces of HK-47 and took them aboard the Ebon Hawk."  
"So that's what happened to that thing." Carth frowned. "He went off to find Revan when I couldn't tell him where she went."  
"I found and repaired him, so he should be still on the ship." Meetra grinned. "I could have guessed that's why he was in such bad condition."  
"I told you to come find me if Revan got into trouble," Carth said pointedly at T3, who just beeped defiantly in return.  
"He says that by the time he knew where you were, he was already helping me defeat the Sith." Meetra smiled apologetically.  
"That's okay then." But Carth still frowned at the droid.

 

The next day, the group met at the Ebon Hawk. Meetra, Mical, and Atton were already there. The Exile had her friends loading up the ship while she waited for Carth and Bastila.  
Bastila was last to arrive, and she was clutching something wrapped in black cloth. Carth walked over and pointed at it.  
"What's that?"  
Before she could answer, there were noises of Atton dropping something on the other Jedi Knight's foot, which Meetra went to investigate.  
Bastila frowned at the thing in her hands and gave it to Carth.  
"I've been meaning to leave it for you for years now. It should have been with you from the very beginning, but I was afraid it would trigger something in Revan."  
Cart slowly unwrapped it, having an idea of what it was. His hunch was confirmed when he found himself holding the iconic mask Revan had worn during the Mandalorian Wars and as a Sith Lord.  
"You don't have to give it to her, I just thought you should have it." With that, Bastila boarded the Ebon Hawk.

Carth stared at the mask. It was a symbol of a Revan he had never known, and Bastila was right. It could unleash a dark power in Revan that couldn't be stopped.  
But then he realized it didn't really matter to him. If that dark power got her away from the Sith and safe with him again, then he wanted her to use it. He wrapped the mask up again and boarded the ship to rescue the woman he loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I respect Drew Karpyshyn as a writer and loved the Darth Bane trilogy...I hate the way Revan's story ended...and the characterization of the Exile...so I'm changing it!  
> Plus, dialogue and stuff like that really start to change here since obviously Revan and Bastila don't have a kid and Carth is the one Meetra is really talking to.


	14. Specter of the Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Carth found Atton in the pilot's chair and immediately realized this was not going to end well. Bastila was standing at the back of the cockpit with a giant smirk on her face, like this was some sort of game.  
Trying to keep his calm, he swung the chair around from the back and looked at the younger man straight in the eye.  
"Out. Of. My. Chair." He paused. "Now."  
Atton crossed his arms and leaned back. "Why? I'm a good enough pi-"  
Carth didn't want to hear it, so he just began to sit down while Atton was still there, causing the Jedi to practically roll out of the way. He grinned triumphantly at the heap of jacket, limbs, and unkempt brown hair, which only glared back before dragging itself back into an Atton shaped form.  
"You know what, Admiral, I'm going to let you pilot the ship." He grinned nonchalantly and ran a hand through his hair.  
"Really, Atton, it was his ship first." Mical's voice carried in as the blond Jedi entered the cockpit with Meetra at his heels.  
Atton turned and gave Mical a look of pure disdain. "No, really? I had nooo idea." He looked like he was about to continue, but Meetra was frowning at him. Somehow that got the insults to stop.  
"Alright then, kid, you can be copilot. Take a seat. The rest of you, hold on to something." Carth began punching buttons to ignite the engines and lift off from the Coruscanti space port.  
Atton scrambled into the copilot's seat with a smirk at Mical, who looked mildly confused, but let it go.  
Meetra just rolled her eyes again, but she couldn't help the small smile that flitted across her face.

 

When they were safely en route to Nathema, Carth decided to take a little reminiscent tour of the ship. It had been years since he'd seen it, so why not? At some point, Revan's room had been converted into a medical bay, but that seemed to be the only real change. The workbench they'd all had to suffer through Revan using was still there, and Canderous's spot was still there. The compartment they'd found spice in was also still there, everything was there.  
In the cargo hold, he stumbled across a deactivated HK-47. Almost hesitantly, he found the activation trigger and flipped it.  
Immediately, the droid was in an attack ready stance and taking in its surroundings. Finally, his gaze settled on Carth.  
"Statement: Ah, Republic meatbag, it is good I found you."  
"I found you," Carth pointed out, but the droid ignored him.  
"Urgent statement: The master is in danger, we must find her."  
Carth rolled his eyes and began to regret the decision to turn on Revan's old assassin droid.

 

Meetra walked over to stand by Atton's shoulder, well aware of his pouty mood about being forced into the copilot's seat. She leaned over the back and rested her chin on top of his head, laughing a bit when he started.  
"You should have sensed me coming."  
"I, uh, I did! I just..." He couldn't seem to find an excuse for that one, but she didn't mind. It was the way Atton was, and she liked him like that. He was her best friend and, maybe, a little more.  
Though there was the problem of Mical, who Kreia had gone out of her way to tell Meetra about his love for her.  
But Atton was just...well, he was as Atton as Atton would ever be, and there was a part of her that couldn't help but see a future when she looked at him, whereas when she looked at Mical, she saw only a past that could have been but wasn't.  
"How much longer until we get there?" She stood up straight and stretched a bit.  
He looked at a few readouts before answering, "About fifteen minutes, give or take five. This ship is like that, and since our pilot decided to take a field trip..." He glared at the empty chair.  
"You were saying?" Carth entered and plopped down into the pilot's chair.  
Atton just grumbled and rolled his eyes.

Everyone had crowded into the cockpit again to get a glimpse of Nathema when they dropped out of hyperspace. T3 had described it somewhat, but they really had no idea what to expect, other than emptiness.  
The small, brown world began to take up the window, and Carth began to feel uncomfortable. He glanced around, seeing that all the Jedi he'd brought were also starting to look a little sick. Something was definitely wrong with the planet, but he had no idea what it was.  
Meetra gasped, breaking the hush that had fallen over the room.  
"What is it?" Atton looked over immediately.  
She stared at Nathema for a moment before responding. "You remember how Malachor V felt, right?"  
"Of course." This time, it was Mical who spoke.  
"You remember that it was a wound in the Force, and the world felt like it was dying?"  
"Yeah," Atton said with a glare at Mical.  
She looked between the two and shook her head before continuing. "Everyone here is feeling somewhat ill, right?"  
They all nodded.  
"Even you, Admiral?"  
Carth raised his eyebrows, but nodded.  
"This world isn't a wound in the Force. It's a gap in the Force."  
Bastila closed her eyes for a moment, but then nodded. "As we draw closer, our connections dim, though I still do not understand why it would affect Carth."  
"Being seperated from the Force for anyone would affect them, though I'd say it's because the Admiral is somewhat Force sensitive."  
Carth cut in, "One, you don't need to call me admiral. Call me Carth. Two, what makes you think that?"  
Meetra looked over, somewhat surprised. "You didn't know?"  
"I had no idea."  
"I'm sorry, I would have mentioned it the first time we met, but I just assumed..."  
"Assumed that someone would have told me." He frowned and leaned back in his chair. If it was true that he was slightly Force sensitive, why had Revan never mentioned it? Or Bastila, or Jolee, or Juhani, or even Dustil?  
"I never knew you were Force sensitive, Carth." Bastila shook her head.  
"Why wouldn't you have noticed?"  
Meetra stepped in. "I may have noticed because I seem to have a gift with finding people that have Force potential. It seems like everyone that helped me stop Darth Traya turned out to be Jedi, other than Mandalore. Look at Atton and Mical, for example." She gestured at her two followers.  
"Then..." Carth felt a smile tugging at the edges of his mouth. "Could you train me to be a Jedi?"  
Meetra hesitated, but before she could answer, T3 began beeping wildly.  
Atton snorted. "Next time we should bring a pilot that pays attention when we need to land."  
Carth glared at him and went back to landing the ship.

T3 had them land in the same place he had spent a year repairing the Ebon Hawk, so on their descent they saw exactly how Revan had managed to crash. Part of a skyscraper was smashed off, and the pavement had practically been destroyed for many meters. Broken hovercars and speeders had been thrown to the sides of the street or crushed.  
Carth gritted his teeth as he landed, everything was feeling off. Still, he definitely felt better than all the Jedi looked.  
"I'll look around with T3, if you all need to rest..." He stood up and checked his blaster.  
"No." Bastila shook her head. "I will accompany you."  
"Me too." Meetra stepped forwards, and Atton looked like he was going to say something, so she added, "Everyone else can stay here."  
Atton sank back down in his chair, looking slightly disappointed.

Meetra led the way as the four began to search Nathema. On Malachor V, she had been able to feel all the agony and death the mass-shadow generator had wrought, but here...here there was nothing to feel. There was no pain, no death, no nothing. There was only the remnants of a world that had been annihilated in what could only have been an act of the dark side so perverse it ripped away the very fabric of the Force.  
At one point, she had to stop for a moment. Having to go through the physical torture of having her connection to the Force severed again was making her physically ill, and Bastila didn't look much better. The other Jedi woman took the break to sit down and put her head between her knees. Carth took a few deep breaths and looked ready to continue.  
"Bastila...you should head back to the Ebon Hawk. Make sure Mical and Atton haven't provoked HK-47, please." Meetra smiled weakly and helped Bastila to her feet. Her voice sounded dull, just like the world around them.  
Normally, she would have protested, but just this once she did as she was told and began to go back the way they had come.  
We're here to find out where the Sith took Revan, she reminded herself, where would I look?  
But Carth was already one step ahead of her and telling T3 to help him look for an archive or a government building. The little droid took off immediately, heading for somewhere he must have remembered from his year of scavenging.  
The two humans exchanged a look before jogging to catch up with T3. Running made Meetra feel slightly better, but not enough. The sooner they left Nathema, the better.

They caught up to the astromech in front of some kind of government building. It wasn't as tall as many of the buildings they'd seen and only had a handful of windows. Most of it seemed to permacrete, even the doors.  
"Nice job." Carth patted the droid and tried to open the doors. "Locked."  
Meetra took the hint and stepped forwards, igniting her cyan-bladed lightsaber and carving out the security bolt.  
Carth almost drew his blaster before realizing that it would do nothing for him, other than make him feel a little better.  
Meetra raised her lightsaber so they could see a little more with the dim light.  
"Right, Tee-Three, we need to find the main data bank. Meetra, search this floor. I'll get the next one."  
She nodded and went off to explore while he went to find the steps.  
The ground floor seemed to be entirely occupied by a lobby or reception room with a large desk and waiting area.  
Giving up on the first floor, she went to check Carth and T3's progress and was very happily surprised to find T3 already plugged into an interface port of a main networking terminal and Carth kneeling next to the droid.  
She stood in the doorway, waiting as patiently as she could while feeling like the air was getting thinner and thinner every second. Her breathing grew shallow, and she had to lean against the entrance. Her first instinct was to reach out to Atton or Mical to have them strengthen her, but there was no way for them to help her now.  
"Exile?" She heard Carth calling, but she didn't respond. It would take far too much energy to say anything, so she closed her eyes and sunk to the floor.

"Meetra?" Carth kneeled next to the woman, wondering what to do. Obviously the void was affecting her more than him, but he was no Jedi. He didn't know how to help her, so he just called her name again. "Meetra?"  
Suddenly, her eyes popped open. "That's right. I'm Meetra Surik." She looked over at him with glazed eyes.  
"Yeah, and don't give up yet. We've still got to save Revan."  
T3 rolled over and whistled concernedly.  
She nodded and stood slowly. "You're right. I'm not going to give in. I'm Meetra Surik, on her way to save Revan with Atton Rand." Somehow, that seemed to focus her enough that she went back to looking somewhat okay.  
"Did you get what we came here for?" Carth asked T3, and was relieved to hear the droid beep affirmatively.  
"Then let's get out of here," Meetra said and began jogging back to the Ebon Hawk.

As soon as they were onboard and the ramp was closed, Carth threw himself into the pilot's chair and began engaging the engines.  
"Go check on Meetra. She needs you," he ordered Atton, who immediately went to find the Jedi Exile.  
The ship couldn't get off the planet fast enough for Carth. As soon as they were in space, he started to feel better, but he kept them going until they were pretty far away from Nathema. Then he went to find Bastila.

Atton found Meetra sitting on one of the bunks in the girls' room. He sat down next to her, but stayed silent. He didn't know what to say.  
"I've been cut off from the Force before," she began after several moments. "I thought I'd lost who I was after Malachor V, and in a way, I had." She looked over at him searchingly. "I'm not that Meetra anymore, but I am Meetra. Nathema tried to take that from me. The void tried to take away who I was and everything I've become. But it was on Nathema that I realized something."  
"What was that?" He asked softly.  
"That you are a very essential part of what I've become, Atton. You were the first one to not look at me and remember who I was. You were the first one to look at me and see what I could be."  
He had no witty response for that, so he only wrapped his arms around her and whispered into her ear, "It would take more than one planet to take you away from me, don't worry."  
She smiled against his shoulder.

Carth found Bastila looking through the stores of the ship.  
"What are you looking for?"  
She grumbled something unintelligible.  
He rolled his eyes. "Come on, tell me."  
"Something sweet."  
"Why?"  
"Because, Carth, I had a bad experience and sweets are good."  
He guffawed at that. "Are you kidding me? A Jedi looking for comfort food?"  
She glared at him and pointed at the entranceway. "Why don't you go figure out where Revan is, hm?"  
That shut him up real fast, and he went to find T3.

The little droid was waiting for him in the cockpit and shot off with a long explanation of how it would take him a while to completely sort through all the data he had taken from the archives.  
"That's fine Tee-Three. Just when you can, I'd like to see what you found."

 

It was two days later before Carth finally got to see it. Over that time span, Bastila had managed to control her urge to eat too much comfort food in one sitting, Meetra and Atton had been very lovey dovey, and Mical had taken on a look of permanent sorrow that nothing could take away. Meetra had pulled him aside for a talk after the first day, but it clearly hadn't worked.  
They also had all decided to shut off HK-47 for a while, as they had no idea what the droid would try to do if it was able to access the information on what had happened to Revan.  
Finally though, T3 had stockpiled all the data onto a datapad for Carth to read and had tagged the important things.  
Nathema had once been a part of the Sith Empire from before the Great Hyperspace War, and the most recent information was from not long after the final battles. That didn't matter though, as the Sith Empire obviously still existed in some form or another.  
Revan had left him to find and destroy a threat to the Republic, and the Sith Empire was certainly a big threat. He'd always known she'd get herself into something too big for her alone to defeat.

It was another several days before Carth was able to find records of the final days of Nathema. The masses were terrified at their empire's defeat, and many Sith Lords were arriving to perform some sort of ritual with the ruler of the planet, Lord Vitiate. However, at the same time as all this was happening, Vitiate was having scientists and historians find the long lost world called Dromund Kaas-the original homeworld of the Sith Species.  
The team looking for Dromund Kaas had been very secret, and everything they'd found had been documented, including the triumphant entry on the finalized hyperspace coordinates of the planet.  
The final entry was a proclamation of Vitiate's findings and ritual, and after that there were no chronological entries about what had happened. Something during the ritual must have gone very wrong for the Sith Lords to cause such destruction on Nathema.  
However, when he shared this information with Mical, the resident historian and Force lore expert, the Jedi had suggested that Vitiate had benefitted from the obvious sorcery and lived to lead the remains of the Sith Empire to Dromund Kaas.

There seemed to be only one option at that point. They had no idea of any other Sith world. They had to find Revan.  
Carth strapped himself in and began to punch in the coordinates he'd found.  
T3 beeped a question, and he nodded.  
"Yeah, we're going to Dromund Kaas. If Revan is anywhere on that planet, I'll find her. Don't worry." The Ebon Hawk made the jump to lightspeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to redmoonandthesea on tumblr for writing me a whole explanation of the Exile/Atton and Exile/Mical ships and how that would work and to padyluppet and girl-chama and knickerweasels (all also on tumblr) for continuously posting Exile/Atton stuff!  
> And the title of this chapter is the title of the Star Wars novel by Timothy Zahn.


	15. Vision of the Future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Scourge stood outside the only cell that was occupied and regarded the monitor for a few moments. He'd been in Nyriss's underground prison thousands of times, enough that the guards had stopped bothering to check him.   
The monitor showed Revan seated in a familiar position, her legs crossed and her hands resting palms up on her thighs. Her eyes were closed and her face was calm, though that was probably due to the drugs as much as the meditation.  
Revan had not left her cell for three years. She had a refresher, sink, and a bed. When they had been interrogating her, they had brought a chair in to strap her to. But that hadn't happened for over two years, as Scourge had convinced Nyriss that even torture would not reveal what she wanted to know about Revan. After all, the Jedi had already told everything she remembered, and pain never brought back memories. They'd learned the Jedi Council had wiped her mind and erased all recollections she had of Dromund Kaas and the Emperor.  
Nyriss had long since moved on with her Jedi prisoner, but Scourge had become obsessed with Revan.  
Her raw power and connection to the Force was unlike anything Scourge had ever encountered before, and even with the constant drugging, he could sense her strength every day. Because of her, Scourge had come to understand why the Jedi posed such a threat to the Sith. After all, with Jedi like Revan, it must have been easy for the Republic to win the Great Hyperspace War. She also served as firther proof for the Emperor's madness in believing he could defeat an enemy that produced warriors like the one sitting in Nyriss's dungeon.  
Another thing that fascinated Scourge was Revan's unique perspective on the Force. She alone had been both Jedi and Sith and knew most of all there was to know about both sides. He wanted to learn everything she knew, but gaining her trust had not been easy.  
Revan had not trusted him at all for several months, after all, he had been the one who tortured her for information she didn't even know. But time in solitary confinement always made prisoners more eager to talk to their captors. Scourge's weekly visits were her only source of communication at that point.  
Still, she had only shared a tiny portion of what she knew through hints and accidentally dropped words. Scourge had been able to use these tiny pieces of wisdom to amass a much larger perspective on the Force. Nyriss may have forgotten about Revan, but Scourge was going to use the greatest resource he had for knowledge.

He unlocked the door to the cell and cleared his throat, though her eyes remained closed. She was still in the same robes she'd been in when they'd taken her from Nathema, and neither the robes nor the prisoner had been properly cleaned since that day. Scourge had come to ignore the scent of the cell as it was a very small price to pay for access into the Jedi Knight's knowledge.  
"Revan," He said patiently and slowly. "I wish to speak with you/"

Revan opened her eyes as though she was just now realizing the Sith Lord was back in her cell, but in reality she had sensed his approach from the moment he'd descended the staircase. Though it was difficult to concentrate on the Force in any specified way, she'd learned a handful of tricks to get around the mind-addling drugs they kept her on.  
She still didn't know the Sith Lord's name, though it didn't really matter to her. She was merely curious as to what to call her only hope of ever leaving this cell.  
In the first few months, she'd hoped Canderous would keep his promise and bring Carth to rescue her, but she'd long since given up on that. She had tried to reach out to Bastila in the Force before, but the drugs restricted her and the galaxy was between the two women. She'd come to believe she was alone, and that she had no chance of ever returning to her family.  
But that was when she had realized she did have one hope: her Sith interrogator.  
He was obviously lower in rank than the ancient female that had often been there for the first couple months of interrogation, but he obviously had some sort of high ranking. He had incredibly Force potential, but he was also incredibly arrogant and ambitious.  
For years now, she'd fed that ambition with tiny bits of her own rather vast knowledge of the Force and her history. The factual knowledge is what drew him in, but the knowledge of all the triumphs and amazing feats Revan had done kept him coming back.  
Of course, a door once opened may be entered from both ways, and she had learned much about the Sith. There was an Empire that spanned over hundreds of worlds, and this particular Sith Lord was working for Nyriss, the old hag from earlier. Revan had also found out that the Emperor was planning another invasion of the Republic, and that this Sith Lord, Nyriss, and many other Sith were working against this plan.  
She'd been focusing on that shared goal for several months now, trying to slowly work it into his head that he would need her in order to stop the Emperor. Sure, there was the possibility that none of her efforts turned out and she was left to rot in this cell while she played a game that she could never win but that wouldn't be lost until she died. But there was also the possibility that she would be freed and that she would be able to destroy the Sith Emperor before he could attack the Republic.  
She was very aware of the weak state she had left both the Republic and the Jedi in, though she had placed her faith in Carth and Bastila to strengthen both while she had been gone. It would be nice to get back to them, though she had accepted the probability she would never see her best friend or her love before she died.

Revan still looked dazed, so Scourge guessed they'd changed the medication again. Every few months, they had to change the drug solution to keep her docile and take away the chance of her building up immunity to any particular one. The side affect of switching drugs was that Revan was always a little more out of it for the next few days than usual.  
"Revan," he said again, this time louder.  
"I'm sorry, my lord." Revan slurred her words slightly. Saying 'my lord' was necessary to appease this Sith, but it still killed her to have to do it. "I'm having trouble...focusing. It's good to see you again." She put on a faint smile. "I always enjoy your visits."  
Scourge also enjoyed them, but he'd never say that out loud. He'd gained a huge amount of respect for Revan over the last few years, whereas he's lost almost all respect he'd had for Nyriss.  
"You seem troubled, my lord."  
"Nyriss still refuses to take any real action against the Emperor," he grumbled. He could tell Revan whatever he wanted, since he was the only one to ever speak to her, so he'd gotten into the habit of venting his frustrations to her.  
"She tells me we must be patient, but her energies and resources are focused on besting her rivals on the Dark Council."  
"Nyriss is driven by fear." She spoke slowly and monotonously. "Openly striking against the Emperor puts her life at risk. Her own immediate survival is more important to her than the fate of your Empire."  
"There are powerful allies who could be persuaded to help her," he complained. "All they need is someone to step up and take charge. All they need is a leader to spur them into action."  
"I was betrayed by Malak. Nyriss is afraid the same thing could happen to her. If she steps forward as a leader, she can no longer hide in the shadows with the others. She will be exposed, and it only takes one ambitious rival to betray her to the Emperor and bring everything crashing down."  
Scourge nodded slowly, recalling how Nyriss had manipulated him into killing Darth Xedrix. "If the conspirators are all too afraid to step forwards, the Emperor will never be stopped. Eventually he will lead us into a war we cannot win, and the Jedi will wipe us out in retaliation. Ultimately doing nothing it the most dangerous choice of all."  
"Nyriss blinds herself to that truth. That is the way of the dark side. Those who follow it are driven by fear and ambition. They are often too selfish to see that great victories often require great sacrifice."  
Scourge rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Revan preached far too much against the dark side for his taste, though she was partially correct in this case. Nyriss didn't think twice about sacrificing an ally or a follower, but she would never even dream of sacrificing herself.  
But then there was Revan, who had left her home to face a threat she had no memory of. She had put herself in harm's way for something she believed in.  
A year earlier, Scourge would have laughed at her. She'd gained nothing as a prisoner, but now he understood that while she had failed, she had at least tried. Nyriss, it seemed, wasn't even going to do that, meaning she had already failed when she claimed she had not even begun.  
"You need to find another ally to your cause," Revan said. "Someone powerful, but who is not caught up in the politics of the Dark Council."  
Scourge began to laugh. "You must be growing desperate if you think you can talk me into helping you escape."

Internally, she winced. That had been her biggest slip up in months, and it was all due to the drugs slowing her mind and making her susceptible to making clumsy ploys instead of her planned subtle manipulation.  
But perhaps she could save her situation.  
"We share a common goal." She shrugged slightly. "We both want to stop the Emperor from invading the Republic. But I am not proposing an alliance. I do not need your help to escape. The Force has shown me that my freedom is drawing near."  
"The Force has shown you? What do you mean? Have you had a vision?"  
Aha, she was right. This Sith Lord had never experienced a vision in the Force, a common side affect of following the dark side. Those that chose the darker path were often too internally focused to use the Force for guidance.  
"I have been shown that my future is beyond these walls." The drugs didn't alter her ability to lie, at least.  
"I don't put much faith in visions and prophecy."  
"Have you ever felt a premonition of danger through the Force? Sensed a threat before it was revealed?"  
"Of course."  
"Visions are merely extrapolations of this. The Force flows across both space and time; it lins the past, present, and future."  
"It is said that Naga Sadow had visions of the Sith crushing the Republic during the Great Hyperspace War. That clearly didn't happen."  
"The future is always in motions. We are only granted visions of one possible outcome out of infinitely many."  
"Then what use are they?"  
"They can guide our actions, give us direction. They can show us the path we wish to follow, or one we can try to avoid."  
"Like the vision that brought you here. The dream of Dromund Kaas and its storm covered sky?"  
"That was a memory, not a vision." She shook her head slightly. "But the Force does sometimes speak to us through our dreams."  
"And what does your vision tell you? How will you make your grand escape?"  
She thought for a moment about her answer. The lie was easy to keep going, but the Sith Lord had to come up with the idea of an alliance between the two of them alone, and that would prove to be difficult.  
"You will understand in time," she said quietly, well aware of how her words would haunt him for several days to come. He was already obsessed with her knowledge and power, so if he obsessed over her words enough, then perhaps he would dream about them. Such a dream might trick him into believing it was actually a vision, and he would free her himself.  
It was her only hope.  
"I have no wish to play your games," the Sith Lord snapped and immediately stormed from the cell, slamming and sealing the door behind him.

It would be at least a week before he returned, if the Sith Lord decided to 'punish' her. Obviously he didn't understand how Revan was able to endure for incredibly long periods of time simply through meditation. She'd often try to reach out to her friends, like Bastila, just to let them know she was alive. She'd never reached any of them, but that didn't stop her from trying.   
She opened herself to the Force and closed her eyes once more. As it flowed through her, images of the friends she'd left behind danced through her addled mind.  
Suddenly though, they were replaced by one single, bright image of a group.  
"Carth." The name spilled out of her mouth, and she quickly clapped a hand over her lips before she said anything else.  
This was what a vision was. It was intense and powerful, and it had shown her that Carth was bringing Bastila, Meetra, and other Jedi to come rescue her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter is also the title of the Star Wars novel by Timothy Zahn.


	16. Closer and Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Carth struggled to keep the Ebon Hawk steady during the descent into Dromund Kaas's rough atmosphere. The second he'd seen the storms, he realized that this must have been the world Revan had been dreaming about so often. He really hoped she'd been brought here, because he doubted it would be easy to find where else she would be. She had to be here.  
The pilot glanced over to his left, but Atton was staring intensely at the planet at being of no help at all. However, something about his expression made Carth let it go. The younger man looked like he was almost in pain, like he was remembering a bad time.  
Meetra entered and immediately went to Atton's side and knelt down. She began to whisper in his ear, but it was a couple moments before he turned and answered her, also in a whisper.  
"Everything okay?" Carth glanced over, but then had to turn back to the front to be able to land properly.  
"Yeah, 'course. We're on the new capitol of the Sith Empire that had one of the most powerful Jedi ever as a prisoner. What could be better?" Atton responded.  
"We're fine." Meetra slapped him lightly.  
Carth raised an eyebrow, but let it go.

Meetra led Atton and Carth down the ramp to meet some sort of official who was waiting for them. Meetra had changed into simple black pants and a red tank top, a basic outfit that should blend in. Carth had ditched his Republic uniform and donned an orange jacket that Meetra found rather garish. It certainly wasn't as nice as Atton's ribbed jacket, which he left on. Atton and Meetra had also hidden their lightsabers; Jedi surely weren't welcome there.  
Outside, the boys decided to let Meetra do the talking. She'd probably screw up less than they would, at least.  
The customs official waiting for them was a middle aged female human. That was a good sign; a human official meant they had to be common here, so Meetra and her entourage wouldn't stand out too much.  
"Your vessel is unregistered." Thankfully, the woman spoke Basic, though she did sound bored. "You'll have to come with me."  
"I like to keep my comings and goings off the record," Meetra said with a friendly smile.  
"That can be arranged." The woman shot a look around before continuing, "Naturally we charge a fee for that kind of premium service."  
"I converted my funds into something a little easier to carry." She held up a small, prefect diamond. They'd decided that Republic credits would be good to take, but to leave on the ship, hidden. No need to advertise who they were too much, or who knew what would happen to them? Four Jedi, a Republic Admiral, and two very useful droids would be valuable on a Sith world like this.  
"If you keep my arrival off the record I'll make sure you're rewarded once I turn these into something a little easier to spend," Meetra tapped a pouch on her belt to indicate she had more.  
"I have a strict pay up front policy." The woman crossed her arms.  
"Maybe just this once you could make an exception. After all, we're all human here." Atton stepped forward and grinned flirtatiously, which bothered Meetra slightly. She'd just helped him step away from the intense dark side aura this planet had, and now he was flirting with someone else.  
The woman smiled a bit back, and Meetra realized how silly she was being. For one, Atton wasn't like that, and he was obviously using the Force to nudge the official's mind in their direction.  
"I guess I could make an exception this one time. After all, we're all human here."  
"I knew we'd work it out." Meetra stepped in, somewhat unwilling to let the flirting continue. "Now, I don't suppose you'd know the name of someone in the city who'd give me a fair price for my stones?"  
"Larvit's your best bet." The woman was still having a hard time taking her eyes of Atton. "He drives a hard bargain, but he won't try to cheat you. Let me give you directions."

Carth suggested they walk to the store, rather than hire a speeder, so they'd get a better feel for the city. Atton hadn't looked happy about it, but he hadn't said anything about it when Meetra had agreed.  
As they walked, she noticed most of the city was occupied by red-skinned Sith and humans, all dressed in a drab sort of uniform way. There were also some Zabrak and Twi'leks, but they seemed to be mostly slaves. She detested the idea of slavery. That one sentient being could force another to do whatever they wanted with fear of pain or even death as the punishment horrified her. Plus, the Zabrak reminded her of Bao-Dur, and she didn't even want to think about one of her friends being enslaved by the Sith. That was why she was here. To stop the Sith and save Revan.  
The directions were simple enough, so they reached Larvit's store in not much time. It didn't look like the sort of place one would go to do things that weren't strictly legal, but you could never tell. Even with the government seal on the door, Meetra sensed something more like the feel of Nar Shaddaa about the place. Oddly enough, that reassured her.  
Atton led the way, obviously interested in the place. It seemed to her that it was like a pawn shop, and behind the counter sat a gray-haired man in a pressed military uniform that also boasted the government's symbol.  
Meetra started to feel less sure about this, but she marched straight up to the counter and dumped a handful of diamonds out.  
"Please present your Imperial identification card-" He stopped and his eyes widened at the fortune sitting in front of him.  
The next thing they knew, the man was leaping from his stool and locking the front door.  
"What do you think you're doing?" He demanded.  
Atton casually placed a hand inside his jacket, where he'd hidden his lightsaber, and Carth nearly drew his blaster.  
"I was told you're the man I wanted to see about business I want to keep off record." Meetra stayed calm.  
"I am, I am." Larvit took a deep breath. "But you can't just toss your stuff on the counter for anyone to see. What if an Imperial inspector happened to wander in?"  
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was a big deal."  
He snorted. "Great. A Subjugate. Here's a tip, off worlder. Next time you visit Dromund Kaas, learn the customs first."  
Meetra nodded and signaled for Carth and Atton to relax, which Atton did but Carth ignored.  
"How did you find out about me? Who sent you?" Larvit asked.  
"Why do you want to know?" Carth cut in.  
Larvit held up his hands and returned to his stool to inspect the diamonds.  
"Is this the full extent of your collection?" His tone had gone all business.  
"It's as much as I'm willing to sell right now," Meetra replied.  
"I understand. Do you need the credits immediately, or can you wait a few weeks?"  
"What's the difference?"  
"I can offer more if you give me time to find the right buyer."  
"We don't have that kind of time." Carth cut in again, irking Meetra. Seriously, she didn't get what Revan had seen in the man, but then again, she'd fallen for Atton Rand.  
"That is unfortunate. That will have to be reflected in the price, of course."  
Meetra nodded. "Of course."  
"I'm willing to offer seven thousand Imperial credits for the lot."  
Meetra wasn't about to fall for that. Even though she really had no idea the value of Imperial credits, she'd had enough experience to know that was a very cheap baseline.  
"Twenty thousand." That was obviously way too high.  
"Even if you could wait to find a buyer, I could never go higher than eighteen. I'll give you ten."  
"Make it fifteen and I promise I'll come to you next time you need a deal."  
"I'll give you twelve, and you certainly won't find anyone else who'll go higher than eleven!"  
"I'll sell them for thirteen and some information."  
"What kind of information?"  
"I'm looking for someone. A friend. I need the name of a contact who knows how to find people."  
"People who don't want to be found?"  
"I'd rather not say."  
Larvit leaned back on his stool and crossed his arms. "Make it twelve five and we have a deal. I'll even set up the meeting."  
Ten minutes later, Meetra, Atton, and Carth were leaving with twelve thousand, five hundred Imperial credits and an appointment with someone called Sechel in two days.

Meetra and Bastila were surprised by the high-class atmosphere of the Nexus Room. They'd decided to leave the boys for this meeting, as all of the ones they'd brought could get a little violent. Not like they couldn't, but Bastila and Meetra had agreed that diplomacy would be the best way to help Revan.  
They'd done considerable research over the past two days about Imperial customs, classes, and culture. Clearly their contact was of one of the higher castes.  
They were greeted at the door by a young human male who wore a very prominent shock collar. Meetra frowned at that.  
"Welcome to the Nexus Room. Do you have a reservation?" He stared politely at the floor.  
"We're here to meet Sechel," Bastila replied.  
"Of course, this way." The young man began to lead them through the restaurant.  
It bothered Meetra a lot, the way slavery was used here. Everywhere you looked, there was obvious subjugation. It was one of the lowest things she could possibly think of. Though Bastila agreed, she was much more careful about her facial expressions. Meetra had taken on a look of obvious unsettlement, which the young man looked to have taken to mean she was displeased with him. Terror filled his eyes, but there was nothing the two Jedi could do to comfort him while in the Sith Empire.  
"P-please follow me," he stuttered with a very low bow.

They were seated at a table with a Sith in very fancy and expensive looking clothes was waiting. He quickly dismissed the young slave with nothing more than a flick of his wrist before gesturing for Bastila and Meetra to sit across from him.  
As they did, he flashed a smile that looked polite, but Meetra saw something cunning underneath. Another thing she noticed was that two of his face-tendrils had been cut off and looked rather like stumps.  
"Larvit tells me you are looking for someone," Sechel said, going right to business.  
"He said you could help us find him," Meetra replied with a nod.  
"For the right price I can find almost anyone, and I happen to know you have more than ample funds to cover my costs."  
"So Larvit is not discreet when it comes to business." Bastila frowned.  
"If you didn't want him to discuss the terms of your deal, you should have negotiated that into the price. Shall I assume you want our discussion to remain private?"  
Meetra nodded, hoping that it wouldn't cost too much extra.  
"Tell me about the person you are looking for."  
"We seek a Sith," Bastila responded. Both women were too smart to admit they were looking for Revan. They had no idea who'd taken her, and it might be a risk to her life if someone found out that they were looking for their lost friend. Instead, they'd brought a holo of the Sith Lord's face who'd taken Revan from the Ebon Hawk, hoping he'd lead them in the right direction.  
"Does this Sith have a name?"  
"He probably does, but we don't know what it is." Meetra shrugged.  
"Ah, progress. Now we know he is male. Can you provide me a description?"  
"I can do better than that." Meetra pulled out the holo and turned it on to reveal a carefully cropped image of the Sith Lord.  
If the two women had been anyone other than who they were, they would never have noticed Sechel's reaction. It was so subtle that they really almost missed it, as it lasted only a fraction of a second.  
"Interesting." Sechel pretended to study the holo. "He appears to be a Sith Lord. That means I will have to charge extra."  
"We must speak to him on a very urgent matter." Bastila ignored that, knowing price would not matter to them on this matter.  
"Perhaps if you tell me the nature of your business, it will help me track him down. Is he a friend? And enemy?"  
"Not a friend, exactly. But certainly not an enemy. He has information about a private matter we wish to discuss."  
"Keeping information from me will make my job more difficult. It will drive up the price substantially."  
"You already know we can pay. Our business will remain private."  
"If I do locate this being, what should I tell him?"  
"We would ask you to set up a meeting," Bastila said.  
"A private meeting, yes?"  
Meetra nodded.  
"Very well. I will try to locate him and offer to set up a meeting. Of course, I can make no promise that he'll agree to see you."  
"It's in his best interest. I'm sure you can be very convincing." Meetra smiled.  
"Certainly. But that also costs extra?"  
"How much will it be?" Bastila tilted her head slightly.  
"Five thousand credits."

In the end, they agreed on four thousand credits. Despite all of Meetra and Bastila's negotiating skills, Sechel was much more skilled than Larvit. The two women left Sechel there and made their way back to the Ebon Hawk, where they shared their findings with the rest of the crew.  
Carth particularly seemed impatient.  
"How many more meetings until we find Revan? I'm going to start shooting random Sith until I find the ones that took her," he grumbled.  
"We must have patience," Bastila reprimanded him, and Mical made a noise of agreement.  
"Carth, we want to find her as much as you do, but we have to do it in the right way, or it may be worse for her. Just think, if the wrong person finds out we're looking for her, they might just kill her." Meetra grimaced. "I'm sorry, but you need to keep that possibility in your mind."  
He just glared around at them and went back to the cockpit, where he seemed to be spending most of his time anymore.

"Carth misses Revan. He has not been the same without her," Bastila observed.  
"None of us have." Meetra shook her head. "Revan was like that."  
"What do you mean?" Mical looked between them.  
Meetra sighed. "Revan was...Revan was my mentor. In a way, she was the greatest Master I could have wished for. I learned much of what I know of the Force from her, not Kreia. She was also a great leader, and friend. You wonder why so many followed her even when she fell? Ask Atton, but I'm sure the answer is because of how inspirational she could be. She was also the fiercest friend you could ask for. She'd do anything to protect you, if you meant a lot to her. Seeing her with Malak was like watching a horde of gizka. They looked after each other like they loved each other like more than just friends, but it never went that far. Revan was too focused on her duty back then, and Malak would never have known how to be with her."  
"She also meant very much to me," Bastila added. "She was able to redeem me when Malak turned me into his Sith Apprentice. She explained to me how I did what I told her I'd to, and how she would not fight me. I could tell she was not lying. Had I chosen to attack her, she would only have defended herself. She would never have harmed me, though I tried to kill her."  
"And I followed her because it seemed like she was the smartest person around." Atton entered the hallway. "I could tell the galaxy needed a better leader, and at the time, I thought the better leader could be Revan. That's when she went full on Sith and I met that Jedi."  
"She sounds like quite the person." Mical seemed impressed.  
"She was." Meetra nodded.  
"She is." Carth was standing in the doorway, his arms crossed. "Why did I follow Revan?" He paused. "Because when I met her, she was the only ally I could find to help me do my duty. Because we became good friends, and then she became so much more to me. And because, even when I found out who she was, I couldn't bring myself to feel anything but love for her. That's why I'll kill every single Sith on this planet if I have to. Because I love Revan, every single part of her."


	17. Confrontation in a Cave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

"You will understand in time."  
Scourge tried, and failed, to push Revan's words from his mind for the millionth time. It was almost a week later, and he was still tormented by her words.  
She was smart. She was using his thirst for her knowledge to manipulate him, but what if she actually had had a vision? What would that mean?  
Something told Scourge that, though his mandate said he had to tell Nyriss of any potential threat to the Dark Council member's life, he shouldn't tell her about Revan's predicted escape. Nyriss would probably simply decide to execute the Jedi to remove the threat altogether.  
And there was Scourge's predicament. Revan had been right when she'd said Nyriss would never step forward to leave, so if Nyriss killed her, what would that mean? Would any chance of stopping the Emperor die with Revan?  
Though he'd laughed at the time, the idea of an alliance between Revan and himself was beginning to sound better everyday. They shared a common goal and were both very committed to their goal. Alliances had been built on much less. But he couldn't come right out and agree to help Revan escape, that would mean he would have to betray Nyriss, and Nyriss and the Emperor was not something Scourge wanted to face. 

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. When he opened it, Sechel was waiting.  
Sechel and Scourge had a very strained relationship. Sechel was Nyriss's personal attendant and was barely Force sensitive. While he was an extremely gifted slicer and had skill with manipulation, he had also almost gotten Scourge killed on several occasions.  
"Why are you here?" Scourge crossed his arms.  
"I have news you will be interested in."  
"Did Nyriss send you?"  
"I am here of my own volition."  
"What is this about?" Scourge narrowed his eyes.  
"Aren't you going to invite me in?"  
"No."  
Sechel looked mildly offended. "I was only trying to show some discretion. For your sake."  
"Get to the point."  
"Two women came to me today. Humans. They're looking for you."  
"Humans? Why?"  
"They didn't say. They didn't give their names, and given their reluctance to discuss the matter I didn't ask."  
"If they found you, they probably already know where to find me."  
Sechel shook his head. "We crossed paths quite by accident. They have no idea you and I know each other at all. They simply hired me to find you."  
"Maybe you'd better come inside and tell me the whole story." Scourge stepped to the side.  
"On second though, I think I'll stay here. I have a feeling you don't like the answers I'm giving you."  
"Do you think I need to get you alone to inflict pain?" Scourge flicked his wrist and used the Force to give Sechel's windpipe a quick squeeze.  
He gasped and threw his hands around his throat. "Nyriss will have your head if you harm me again!"  
"That won't bring you back if you're dead. Now stop playing games and tell me exactly what happened."  
"These women were referred to me by a business associate. They offered me a substantial sum to track down the man in their holoimage."  
"A holoimage?"  
"Apparently they didn't even know your name. But they have an excellent image of your face, and they're willing to pay a substantial sum to meet with you."  
"And you have no idea why?"  
"I can speculate."  
"Please do."  
"Think of how many lives you have ended. How many assassinations you've performed. Isn't it possible that on one of these missions your face was captured by a security cam?"  
Scourge paused to consider that before responding, "It's possible."  
"Now imagine someone who knew the victim finds the footage. Maybe a wife, or daughter, or both, or one hired the other. Driven by their lust for revenge, they could search the whole Empire for the one who wronged them."  
"You think they want to kill me?"  
"Probably. Most people do. But they insisted on meeting you in person."  
"Why are you telling me this?"  
"I have a reputation to protect. They paid me to do a job; I don't want rumors spreading that I cheated a client. It's bad for business."  
"Does Nyriss know about your so-called business?"  
"She allows me to freelance as long as it doesn't interfere with my work on her behalf. And in this case, it may actually benefit her. And you." Sechel gave Scourge a very pointed look. "If these women intend you harm, they must be dealt with appropriately. That is why I think you should meet with them."  
"And there's always a chance that they might actually succeed, isn't there?"  
"Doubtful. Just to be on the safe side, though, I wouldn't suggest you go meet them alone."  
"You want to come with me?"  
"Not in the least. This seems more like a job for Murtog and his crew."  
Scourge wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to bring Murtog, the chief of Nyriss's security, on an outing that may prove to be embarrassingly easy. Also, there was no way to tell whether or not Sechel was setting him up. The aide had never liked the Sith Lord after all.  
Though refusing the meeting wasn't an option either. Scourge knew there were at least two women looking for him, and he needed to deal with them. Whatever their motives, he had to face them.  
Sechel, being the intelectual manipulator he was, had deduced this. If Scourge brought Murtog, Sechel would have a way to find out what happened. However, if Scourge went alone, he might die. He had no idea who and what these two women were, and he didn't like the idea of taking a chance.  
"Congratulations," Scourge muttered. "You've backed me into a corner. Set up the meeting, and tell Murtog and his men to be there."  
"Of course, Lord Scourge." Sechel gave a very mocking bow. "I'm always happy to be of service."

Meetra and Carth were ready for a trap even before she began to feel some warning in the Force. They had no reason to trust this Sechel, even if he'd given them a meeting and the name of the Sith-Lord Scourge.  
They found themselves at the outskirts of Kaas City, outside a very isolated cave. The perfect place for an ambush, even though there was only one speeder in the vicinity.  
T3 gave a few low beeps of concern as Carth brought their speeder down for a landing beside the other.  
"I know, I know," Meetra muttered. "But this is the only lead we've got, and we've got to find her."  
Carth gave a grunt of agreement and climbed out of the speeder to help T3 out. While they did that, Meetra stepped out and closed her eyes for a minute to get in touch with the Force. If there was a fight, she wanted to be ready for it. Carth had talked strategy with her and T3 earlier, preparing them for multiple scenarios. She'd thought he was being paranoid, and considered taking Atton instead for a while, but now she realized it had been a good idea.  
As they began to walk towards the cave, Carth whispered something to T3 before leaning closer to Meetra and saying, "Operation supernova."  
She nodded slightly and casually placed her hand inside her jacket, where she'd been keeping her lightsaber. It was a habit she'd picked up from Atton a few months prior.

Walking slowly, they entered the cave. Meetra sensed several beings standing around them, but she couldn't see but about a meter in front of her. They must have been wearing night vision goggles.  
She put on the face and demeanor of someone who was nervous about meeting a Sith Lord in an isolated location, which wasn't that heard to do.  
"Hello? Is anyone there?" She called, allowing her voice to waver.  
"Don't move!" A voice answered, and she had to keep from grinning. Of course Carth had been right with his paranoia. "We have you surrounded!"  
"Lord Scourge?" She called again. "Is that you? We only want to talk."  
"Lie flat on the ground and put your hands behind your heads! If not, we open fire."  
"Now Tee-Three!" Carth yelled and forced Meetra down to the ground with him, both covering their heads as the little droid turned his headlamp on at full power.  
The brightness was like a small sun, and obviously overloaded the night-vision goggles. However, both Meetra and Carth had been able to take stock of what they were up against as they dropped.  
There were four soldiers in heavy armor with blaster carbines in a circle loosely around them. In the back of the cave looked to be a hooded Sith Lord.  
The soldiers opened fire where the Jedi and Admiral had been standing, but Carth and Meetra were far too fast. Meetra had gone straight from flat on her stomach to leaping towards the nearest soldier and igniting her lightsaber. Carth had rolled into a kneeling position and drawn two blaster pistols. T3 pitched in with his flamethrower, and it wasn't long before the soldiers were all lying at their feet.  
Then, Carth, Meetra, and T3 turned to face the Sith Lord. Meetra wasn't too worried, she'd faced Sith before. They'd never defeated her, and she had T3 and Carth, both very skilled allies.  
However, Lord Scourge was doing nothing other than standing in a defensive position in the back of the cave with a look of pure shock on his face.  
"You're a Jedi." His words froze the three friends in place before they could attack. "What she said was true. She saw you. She knew."  
"Who saw us? Who knew?" Carth demanded.  
"You're here for Revan." The Sith's voice filled with wonder as he studied the three of them. "You've come to rescue her."  
"I'm impressed you figured it out so quickly," Meetra commented.  
"I didn't figure it out." Scourge shook his head. "Revan told me."

As soon as he'd seen the quick reactions of the group, Scourge knew he wasn't dealing with simple people out for revenge. And then the blue bladed lightsaber had appeared and shocked him to the core. The only possible reason a Jedi and her entourage would be on Dromund Kaas would be to rescue Revan.  
The Jedi, droid, and man were all very skilled and took down Murtog and his team very quickly. It was quite impressive how well they worked together. She at least was channeling the Force, and it seemed like the man was to a much, much lesser extent.  
"What do you mean, Revan told you?" The man was getting angry.  
"When I last spoke with her, she said something I didn't believe. I thought she was trying to manipulate me. I didn't understand what she was trying to tell me." Well, Scourge still wasn't entirely sure he understood, but this group's very existence proved that Revan had been telling the truth.  
"Then you know where she is." The man had somehow taken charge, and the female Jedi was backing off.  
"Revan is a prisoner."  
"Then it's simple; let her go, or I pain the walls of this cave with your brains." The man leveled his blasters at Scourge.  
"It's not that simple."  
There was only one explanation for why Revan had told him about these people. She clearly had seen him working with them in her vision. If these people were Jedi, or friends of Revan's, then they would want to destroy the Emperor too. Finally, Scourge had found a team of people who wanted to take down the Emperor. He just had to convince them to join him.  
"Tell us where Revan is. Tell us where she's being held and we will let you walk away," the Jedi was speaking.  
"Come with me and I will take you to see Revan. She will tell you the truth." Scourge stood up straight, deactivated his lightsaber, and hung the hilt from his belt.  
The droid rolled forwards, squawking loudly.  
"Tee-Three's right. We've already walked into one trap today. I think we've hit our quota." She didn't lower her blade, and the man was still aiming at Scourge's head.  
"Revan told me you were coming. I think the Force gave her a vision of us working together."  
"Then why did you set an ambush?" The man looked like he was going to explose, it was mildly amusing.  
"I didn't know who you all were. You wouldn't tell Sechel any of the details of who you were or why you were looking for me."  
"You're lying," The man snarled. "You're afraid of us and you're using Revan as a smokescreen."  
"Do I seem afraid?"  
"No," the Jedi woman said. "You seem strangely calm."  
"That is because I finally understand what Revan meant. She wants us to unite against a common foe."  
"What common foe?" The woman lowered her lightsaber slightly, but the man didn't move.  
"Our Emperor is planning an invasion against the Republic. Revan wants to stop him. So do I."  
"Why would you want to stop your Emperor?" The man shook his head.  
"The Emperor is mad. He wants to repeat the mistakes of the Great Hyperspace War. He wants to plunge us into a conflict that will end with our extinction."  
She lowered her lightsaber completely, but left it ignited. "Then why did you take Revan prisoner on Nathema?"  
"That was before I knew her purpose here." Scourge paused. "You speak of Nathema. Have you been to that world? Have you walked upon its surface?"  
"We have," she replied, and he could tell from the expressions of pain on both of their faces that they were speaking the truth.  
"That was the Emperor's homeworld. To give himself greater power, he unleashed a ritual that devoured everything. When I was what happened there, I understood the true depths of his insanity. I realized his mind was so twisted and disturbed he was not fit to rule, and I swore to find a way to stop him. You walk the path of the light; I have chosen to follow the dark side. But we both know the horrors of Nathema are a blight upon the galaxy. Revan knows this as well. That is why she wants us to work together."  
The woman thought for a moment, and then deactivated her lightsaber and placed it inside her jacket. The man looked at her like she was insane before turning back to Scourge and keeping his blasters level.  
"Before we go anywhere with you, we're going to need more to go on than just your word," she warned.  
"I can bring you proof. Wait here and I will return tomorrow."  
"How do I know you won't just come back with more reinforcements?" The Jedi narrowed her eyes.  
"You will sense me in through the Force before I actually arrive. If I'm not alone, you will have plenty of time to make your escape."  
"And Revan?" The man blurted. "How do I know you won't just kill her?"  
"She is safe for the moment, I swear on my life." Scourge nodded. "But I cannot free her without help."  
"You have until tomorrow." The Jedi spoke again. "Return with proof and we can work together to free Revan."  
Scourge nodded and slowly made his way by them as the man in the orange jacket reluctantly lowered his blasters.

Right before the Sith Lord was gone, however, the man called out, "If you touch Revan, I will make you wish you'd been born a deformed gizka on Korriban."  
"Save your anger for the Emperor," Scourge called back. "He is the real enemy."


	18. When a Plan Comes Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

One day was very little time, but that still wasn't Scourge's biggest concern. Sechel would be waiting for Murtog's report on the meeting, and as Murtog was no longer living...well, Scourge didn't want Sechel investigating.   
The Sith Lord swung himself into his speeder and took off, heading back to the city. Sechel would probably be at the Nexus Room, waiting for Murtog's call. 

Scourge landed about a block away from the club and walked the rest of the way. There was a young human slave waiting by the door.  
"Welcome, my lord." He bowed low.  
"I have a message for Sechel."  
"Of course, my lord. Follow me." The slave began to turn, but Scourge seized his shoulder and spun him back around roughly.  
"I did not say I wish to speak with him. I said I have a message."  
"F-forgive me master. P-please tell me what you wish me to do."  
"Wait until I leave. Then tell Sechel that Murtog needs to meet him. He'll know where. Do you understand?"  
The slave nodded quickly and fearfully.  
"Do not tell him I was here. Do not mention me at all. Simply deliver the message. If you fail me, I will have them flay the flesh from your bones."  
The young man nodded again and stood very still, waiting. Scourge spun around and left, though as soon as he was out of the door, he turned to be able to watch.  
Sechel exited a few minutes later, looking mildly self pleased. Scourge followed the other Sith for several blocks until they finally came across a small apartment building. Sechel quickly punched in the safety code an entered. Scourge waited a few moments before following. He glanced around to be sure there was no one else in the area before igniting his lightsaber directly into the security panel. The door opened almost immediately, a safety precaution that wasn't going to help today.   
The apartment building was very small, with only four doors on the lower level. However, Scourge ignored them and made for the stairs. He knew enough about Sechel to understand that the aide would never lower himself to a ground floor apartment.  
On the upper floor, there were only two doors. The first buzzer Scourge tried caused nothing to happen, so he jammed the buzzer on the second one. Several moments later, the door swung open to reveal Sechel.   
Before he could react, Scourge lashed out and jabbed Sechel in the throat, causing the shorter Sith to fall to his knees. Scourge stepped inside and closed the door.  
"Make any sound louder than a whisper and your life will end in unbearable agony," Scourge warned.  
"Where is Murtog?" Sechel stood and tried to regain his composure.  
"Dead."  
"It seems I underestimated these women. I assume since you survived they now share Murtog's fate?"  
"How much did Nyriss know about the meeting."  
"Nothing."  
"You didn't mention it to her?"  
"You have an overly high opinion of yourself if you thinks Nyriss care about some anonymous females from you past. This is beneath her notice."  
"What about Murtog? Would he have said anything? Would he have told Nyriss where he was going?"  
"She doesn't keep tabs on us like children."  
"How long until she begins to miss him?"  
"You mean how long until she finds out you got him killed? I'd say you have another three days before she begins to wonder about his absence."  
"Three days. We'll have to move fast."  
"What are you talking about?"  
"I want your files."  
"What files?"  
"The ones implicating Nyriss and the other Dark Council members. I want everything you've gathered that could be used to expose them as traitors."  
"You're crossing a dangerous line." Sechel took a small step back. "Nyriss has turned a blind eye to my collection; I'm too valuable for her to cast me aside. You, however, are expendable. If she finds out about this, she'll have your head."  
"Nyriss is not your concern. I am. Give me the files. I won't ask again."  
"Wait here." Sechel turned and began walking.  
Scourge had no intention of letting the other Sith out of his sight, so he followed.  
Sechel sighed before continuing to a small closet at the back of the apartment. He opened it and dropped to one knee to remove a panel from the floor. He slowly punched in a code into the keypad the panel revealed so Scourge could see what he was doing. The back of the closet slid open to reveal another safe, which Sechel quickly opened.  
"Slowly." Scourge stepped back as the door clicked open.  
"There's a blaster inside. But I have no intention of trying to use it against you."  
"A wise decision."  
Sechel opened the safe to reveal a hold out blaster and several data disks.  
"Is this everything?"  
"It's all here. but it's encrypted. If anything happens to me, the data is useless. I'm the only one who can decode it."  
"I'm sure I can find a slicer somewhere who's up to the challenge."  
Scourge quickly stepped forwards and brought his left arm up under Sechel's chin, his forearm pressing hard against the windpipe. The Sith Lord's right hand went on top of Sechel's head. The advisor had become a liability, and Scourge didn't like liabilities.  
Scourge took a moment to enjoy it though. He slowly began to apply pressure on Sechel's vertebrae. The small Sith had done enough to infuriate him that it wasn't unpleasant to hear the pop and feel the body go limp.   
The body fell to the floor and Scourge scooped up the datadisks and left the apartment.

Carth had called the others from the Ebon Hawk to join them, so Mical and Bastila were silently meditating while Meetra and Atton watched Carth and T3 pace, trying to figure out who'd done the most loops. Atton was counting for Carth, and Meetra was counting for T3. So far, Carth was winning by thirteen.  
Meetra had no idea how Bastila and Mical were able to meditate with the other two circling like they were about to have a meltdown. Sure, she was worried about having to ally with a Sith Lord, but they were taking it to another level. Especially Carth, who kept tapping his blasters like he was considering following Lord Scourge and just killing him.  
Another thing that Meetra didn't get was Revan's part in their new alliance. Scourge had been telling the truth about Revan, but Revan must have been desperate if she was allying herself with a Sith Lord. Sure, the other woman was extremely charismatic and had a very powerful command of the Force, but she was a prisoner of the Sith. They must have done something to her to keep her docile, and Meetra wasn't very sure she wanted to know what it was.  
At this point, Meetra had accepted that Scourge was the only way they were going to save Revan, so she was trying not to dwell on it.  
Atton nudged her. "Pazaak?"  
"Republic Senate Rules?"  
Atton grinned and pulled out his deck while Meetra did the same.

It was another several hours before the sounds of an approaching speeder broke the silence of the cave.   
"I told you all he'd come back. He's alone too," She said, very pointedly, to Carth. She stood and brushed off a bit of dirt, ready to defend her friends if need be.  
"I have what you need." Scourge held up several data disks. "This will prove what I said about trying to stop the Emperor. You will see we are all on the same side." Then he paused and looked around the cave, somewhat surprised. "There are more of you."  
Meetra took the disks. "We'll need time to look these over, and yes. There are more of us." She didn't elaborate.  
Atton and Carth were glaring at the Sith Lord, Mical and Bastila were still meditating, and T3 had stopped moving.  
"They might be encrypted," Scourge warned as he looked around at everyone.  
"I've never come across a code my friend here couldn't crack." She gestured at T3.  
"I suspected as much. How long do you think it will take?"  
"Why?" Carth cut in.  
"Events have been set in motion. We have two, maybe three days before the window of opportunity closes."  
"Work fast, T3." Meetra frowned. "We'd be more comfortable if you weren't hovering over us."  
"I will return in three hours. Alone, of course." Scourge turned and left the cave again.  
"Well, isn't he a ball of sunshine?" Atton remarked.

It took half that time for T3 to decrypt and verify the data. It actually did confirm what Scourge had said about plotting to overthrow the Emperor with several members of the Dark Council.  
However, it had been over a decade since any progress at all had been made. Most of what had happened seemed to be a multitude of double crosses and power plays throughout the group. The idea of them working together enough to defeat the Emperor was ludicrous.  
"No wonder he has chosen to work with us." Mical shook his head. "He must be weary of waiting."  
"Really." Atton snorted.

When Scourge returned, the group was waiting for him.  
"We believe you." The way Carth said it almost made it seem like he was depressed to admit it.  
"Does this mean you'll tell me your names?" Scourge looked around.  
"Atton Rand." Atton jabbed a finger into his own chest.  
"Mical." The blond Jedi gave a slight bow.  
"Bastila Shan." Bastila didn't move.  
"Carth Onasi," Carth grumbled.  
"Meetra Surik, and this is T3-M4."  
The droid chirped.  
"What is he saying?" Scourge glanced down at the astromech.  
"That it's time for you to take us to see Revan." Meetra crossed her arms.  
"The situation has changed. That isn't an option any longer."  
"Why not?" Carth put his hand on one of his blasters.  
"She is being held by a Sith Lord called Nyriss."  
"She is on the Dark Council. The one who brought you to the conspiracy," Bastila said.  
"If she's holding Revan, why can't you take us to her?" Atton frowned.  
"When I first made the offer, I was hoping Revan could convince you we should work together. Going to see her now would be an unnecessary risk."  
"Oh really?" Carth pulled out his blaster now. "That's not good enough."  
"Carth!" Bastila reached out and put her hand on Carth's arm. "We all wish to see Revan, but violence will not aid us here."  
"Says who?" He growled.  
"I could probably get you in to see her, but that won't help her out of her cell." Scourge had stepped back.  
"Just take us to her." Meetra stepped forwards. "Leave the escape to me."  
"Even with six of you, you can't fight Nyriss's entire army of followers. Even with my help. She has hundreds of guards and acolytes trained in the dark side. If we're going to get Revan out, we need a distraction. Something to draw the attention of the guards while we sneak in."  
"It sounds like you have a plan." Carth grudgingly holstered his blaster.  
"I do." Scourge smiled. "I'm going to get the Emperor to help us."


	19. Sacrifices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Scourge's heart was racing as he made his way up the staircase to the Emperor's citadel. This was a very dangerous game, but he had no other options. If Carth Onasi was forcing him to get Revan out of her cell alive, then he had to find a way to remove Nyriss before she realized she'd been betrayed.  
It wouldn't take long for Nyriss to realize that Scourge was connected to Murtog and Sechel's absences once she noticed they were gone. He had very little time.  
The Emperor was the only Sith on all of Dromund Kaas with the ability to completely stop Nyriss, and convincing him that Nyriss was a traitor would be very simple with Sechel's datacards. The only hard part would be convincing the Emperor Scourge had only been an unknowing pawn.  
T3 had already edited the disks, wiping out any evidence of Scourge's part in the conspiracy. Still, there was no guarantee the Emperor would actually believe him. He was putting himself at risk by coming, which was something he never would have even considered before he'd met Revan.

There were two Sith guards in red armor waiting at the top of the stairs. They were obviously members of the famed Imperial Guard. They were the most disciplined and deadly troops in the entire Empire, though many didn't even survive training.  
"State your business." One guard stepped in Scourge's way.  
"I must see the Emperor immediately."  
"Only those on the Dark Council can speak with the Emperor," the second guard informed him.  
"My name is Lord Scourge. I serve Darth Nyriss, and I am here on her behalf."  
They looked at each other, but said nothing.  
"The Emperor is in danger, I must speak with him."  
"Wait here." The first guard turned and disappeared into the citadel for several minutes. When he returned, there were four more guards with him. One, however, was in a significantly more elaborate outfit than the rest.  
"I am Captain Yarri," the one in the better armor spoke. "Come with me."  
She lead him into the citadel with the other three guards she'd brought.   
"You are taking me to the Emperor?" Scourge asked.  
"You may speak with one of the Emperor's advisors."  
"Unacceptable. I did not come here to speak with a servant."  
"The choice is not yours to make."  
Scourge immediately stopped walking immediately, causing the guards behind him to stumble.  
"What is this?" Yarri spun around.  
"I am a Lord of the Sith, and an agent of Darth Nyriss. I order you to take me to the Emperor."  
"That is not permitted."  
"These are exceptional cicumstances."  
"How so?"  
"That is for the Emperor's ears alone. I must speak with him in person."  
"The Emperor does not like to be disturbed."  
"He will want to hear what I have to say."  
"If he feels you've wasted his time, you will be punished," she warned in a chillingly calm tone."  
"It will not be a waste of time."  
"As you wish." The captain shrugged and began to lead him through the corridors again. Scourge paid close attention to their route, well aware that he would have to lead Revan through these halls later.

They reached two large durasteel doors and Captain Yurri stopped.  
"The throne room lies beyond. There you will find the Emperor. I will give you one last chance to reconsider."  
"I've made my decision."  
"Then you must proceed alone. I will not violate the sanctity of the throne room."  
She gestured, and two of the soldiers stepped forward to open the doors. As soon as they had pulled them apart, they snapped to attention against the walls.  
He paused before entering. Like Revan, the Emperor understood the Force in ways he could never fathom. They both had almost unlimited potential, but the difference was that one of them had sucked of the life force of billions to become even more powerful, and it wasn't the one who was sitting in a cell, drugged to dormancy.  
Scourge was putting himself in a lot of danger by doing this. Had Revan really managed to change him so much? How?

Steeling himself, Scourge stepped inside.  
The throne room was enormous with a high arched ceiling. However, apart from the actual throne, it was apparently empty.  
Scourge stepped forwards towards the elevated pedestal, causing the throne to swing around to actually face Scourge.  
The Emperor was surprisingly unremarkable. He wore plain black robes with the hood raised to cover his face. Yet Scourge could feel the raw power of the being in front of him, and the dark side came off of him in waves.  
The Emperor stood, and the doors swung shut with a terrible crash.   
Scourge walked to the foot of the pedestal before kneeling and lowering his head.  
"Rise, Lord Scourge, and speak your piece."  
Scourge stood slowly to find that the Emperor had removed his hood. His eyes were as black as the void on Nathema had felt.  
He began, "Three years ago I went to serve Darth Nyriss at your request. I discovered that Darth Xedrix was a traitor, and I executed him for his crimes."  
"Your service has been noted."  
"I continued to serve Darth Nyriss after Xedrix's death, and I continued to investigate the separatists. I became suspicious of one of Nyriss's advisors, a man named Sechel. I turned my investigation to him, but Sechel was careful; he covered his tracks well. It took me until yesterday to be certain of his guilt. He was also secretly working with the separatists, and he suffered the same fate as Xedrix."  
"You should speak to Darth Nyriss if you seek to be rewarded for you actions." The Emperor's voice was cool and calm, but now there was an edge to it. Scourge had to get on with his story or he'd end up dead.  
"That is not why I have come before you. Among Sechel's effects I found these datafiles." He held out the disks. "They show that Darth Xedrix was not the only member of the Dark Council to betray you. He was merely sacrificed to keep the involvement of the others secret. Darth Nyriss was involved in this ploy, along with several others."  
The air grew colder and staler, causing Scourge to give an involuntary shiver.  
"Are you certain of these accusations?"  
"I would stake my life on them, my lord Emperor."  
"You already have."  
Another slight shiver passed over his spine as he realized it was more than just his life. The Emperor had a power beyond that of perhaps even Revan's, so when he spoke of life and death, it meant far more than mere physical things.  
"Does Nyriss know you are here?"  
"No. I came to you as soon as I deciphered the data on Sechel's disks."  
There was silence for several moments before the doors opened and Captain Yarri entered. She was followed by a Sith wearing similar robes to the Emperor. The newcomer strode up to Scourge and held out his hand expectantly, so Scourge handed him the disks.  
"Keep Lord Scourge in custody until the matter is settled," the Emperor commanded.  
"Forgive me, Lord Emperor, but Nyriss is expecting my return. If I am absent, she will grow suspicious."  
There was silence, and for a minute, Scourge feared he had gone too far.  
"You are bold to speak to me in this way. And because you are right, I will reward your initiative...this time. When Nyriss falls, you will be first in lime for her seat on the Dark Council."  
"Thank you, Lord Emperor." Scourge bowed very low.  
"If your information proves false, however, you will suffer a fate more terrible than anything you can imagine."  
Instantly, Scourge felt the mind of the Emperor's touch his own, and he collapsed to the floor in pure agony. The horrors of the EMperor's mind had nearly consumed him, though their contact with him had been for less than a second.  
Scourge quickly picked himself off of the floor.  
"Come with me," Captain Yarri ordered, and he followed.

Once they were outside the room and the doors were shut once again, Scourge spoke, "I see why you tried to talk me out of this."  
"You took a great risk, but if your information is good, it sounds like you'll be on the Dark Council next time we meet."  
"What about Nyriss? What will the Emperor do to her?"  
"She will be purged by the Imperial Guard along with her entire staff of followers."  
"I'd rather not be there when it happens. When will you make your move?"  
"Soon. For now, return to Nyriss so she doesn't grow suspicious."  
They were once again at the top of the staircase to the Emperor's citadel.  
"I will tell my people not to harm you." She turned away. "But when the battle starts, try to stay out of the way just in case."


	20. Revan Reborn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

As soon as Scourge posed the idea, Atton freaked out. He was marching around, yelling about how dumb it was and how he was going to kill someone.  
Meetra didn't quite understand his problem, as she'd be the one pretending to be Scourge's newly purchased slave. It actually seemed semi-logical, so she was allowing it, much to Atton's grief. Mical hadn't seemed pleased either, but he at least had kept his mouth shut.  
The only time Atton had shut up for more than two seconds was when she'd come out wearing a purple dancer's outfit that looked a lot like the one she'd donned on Nar Shaddaa for entrance into Vogga the Hutt's place.  
That wasn't the worst part though; Scourge had brought a non-functioning shock collar to complete the illusion.  
That was when Atton pulled out his lightsaber, much to the alarm of everyone around him. Thankfully, Meetra had been able to calm him down enough that he was sitting in a corner with his arms crossed over his chest when they'd gone.  
Carth was doing a similar pose by the entrance of the cave because he'd wanted to go with them to help break Revan out. Meetra almost felt guilty for leaving Bastila and T3 alone there, but she knew T3 at least could handle the grumpy boys.

"Welcome back, Lord Scourge." The guard at the main entrance said. "Darth Nyriss was just asking about you."  
"In what regard?" Scourge asked while Meetra pretended not to be interested.  
"Sechel and Murtog both left two days ago; she wondered if you knew where they had gone."  
"They didn't include me in their plans." He shrugged. "I've been scouring the slave markets for the past few days, looking for a worthy purchase."  
"Of course, my lord." The guard bowed slightly and shot a quick and knowing look at Meetra. "I will inform Darth Nyriss that you have not seen the others."  
"Good. Once I am settled, I will go speak with her myself to see if she wants me to inquire after them."  
He began down the hall, Meetra staying a respectful distance behind him, but when they were out of earshot of the entrance guard, Scourge turned back to her.  
"This could complicate things. Nyriss wouldn't have asked about the others if she wasn't growing concerned. I had hoped to avoid her until the Emperor made his move, but if I put off seeing her now it will look suspicious."  
"I'm not letting you out of my sight. If you meet with her, I had better go with you."  
"Ridiculous! I would never be so insulting as to bring one of my personal slaves into a meeting with someone of Nyriss's rank."  
"Then you had better think of something fast, because if this all goes sour, I'm going to whip out my lightsaber and start chopping off heads."  
"I could bring you if I was presenting you to Nyriss as a gift. But then there would be no reason for me to keep you close by."  
"Forget it."  
"Then what do you suggest?"  
"Take me to Revan now. I'll take my chances on fighting our way out."  
"I didn't bring you here so you could throw you life away, and I have no intention of becoming a martyr."

Meetra was about to shoot off another retort, bu a sudden explosion stopped her.  
"The Imperial Guard! They're here!" Scourge gasped.  
Alarms began to ring and Nyriss's people began to fill the halls, responding to the attack.  
Meetra ripped off the slave collar and gave Scourge a pointed look.  
"The dungeon is this way. Follow me." He began to run.

The explosions continued from all sides; the stronghold was surrounded.  
"I would have expected someone on the Dark Council to put up a better resistance," Meetra remarked on the complete disorganization of the people sprinting through the halls.  
"The security chief and three of his top lieutenants aren't here to rally them, thanks to you," Scourge called over his shoulder. "The dungeons are close."

"I don't see Nyriss among the dead." Scourge's voice was grim as they rounded the final corner to come face to face with a massive durasteel door. He began to punch in his security code, but nothing happened. He cursed. "The whole place is in emergency lockdown. My security codes don't work."  
"Move over," Meetra commanded and stepped forwards, putting her own slicing skills to the test.  
"Hurry. I don't sense any guards in there."  
"You think they fled?"  
"I think when the alarms went off Nyriss told them to execute the prisoner."

 

Revan's first impression was that her captors had screwed up the drugs again, but then she realized that the explosions were actually real when the alarms started blaring.  
"Carth," she mumbled and struggled to her feet. They must have at least changed the drugs for her to be so much slower than normal.  
The door of her cell swung open, and she was surprised to see a young, dark-skinned male human pointing a blaster at her. However, she was rather doubtful he'd actually hit her if he shot; his hand was trembling rather badly.  
"Hurry. Do it!" A voice called.  
Of course, the place was under attack and her guards had been ordered to kill her.  
"Squeeze the trigger and it will be the last action you will ever take." She made a point of not slurring her words.  
"Come on!" The voice called again. "Just do it! What's the problem?"  
The guards were obviously both afraid, and she understood completely. During the time she'd been here, she'd been under complete quarantine. The only time anyone other than Scourge was allowed to see her was when Scourge was with them. Clearly they'd been told thousands of time how dangerous their prisoner was, and Revan was going to use the mystery around her to her advantage.  
"Set the weapon down if you want to live." She reached out as much as she could in the Force and amplified their fear.  
"No!' The other voice practically screamed. "She'll kill us!"  
"I promise to spare you," Revan said, feeling completely exasperated. "I give you my word as a Jedi."  
"See? See?" The man in front of her practically squealed. "I told you she was a Jedi!"  
"Nyriss has sent you on a suicide mission," she informed them.  
"How do you know who we work for?" The pitch of his voice kept rising, if that were even possible.  
She suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "The Force shows me many things."  
"This is bad." The young man was squeezing his blaster so tight his knuckles looked in danger of popping out of his skin. "This is bad."  
"Just walk away from all this. It's your only chance of survival."  
"We can't walk away! The door upstairs won't open. We're locked in!"  
Seriously, what kind of guards did they assign to her? At least give her someone competent.  
"Just shoot her!" The other shouted above the alarms and explosions. "She can't hurt you. If she was going to stop you, she'd have done it by now."  
"Nyriss will kill us if she finds us down here with you still alive."  
"Nyriss is already dead," she lied. "Do you hear the explosions? The alarms? My friends are coming for me. You say you're trapped in here. What do you think my friends will do if they find you standing over my corpse?"  
"She's got a point." The unseen speaker sounded like that was a surprise. "Listen to all those bombs going off. This isn't just some quick hit and run attack."  
"Surrender to me and I will guarantee your safety. I give you my word as a Jedi," she repeated.  
The young man hesitated, but then dropped his blaster and stepped back.

Revan calmly stepped out of her cell, though she was internally screaming. It was the first time for three years she'd left the small room, and this meant that in several hours, or days or however long it would take, she'd feel normal and be able to think straight again.  
She regarded the other guard who'd wanted to kill her, but then given in. He was another human male, but at least a few years older than the other. Both were watching her like she would lash out at them at any second.  
"I'm not going to hurt you." She was starting to get impatient with them. "Maybe you two should sit over there against the wall until my friends arrive. You don't want them to mistake you for a threat."  
Her head was pounding from the drugs, but she couldn't show any weakness now, so she just watched calmly as they did as she instructed.

It was another several minutes before there was a loud crash and the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.  
Meetra appeared, wearing some sort of purple dancing thing, and Revan grinned widely.  
"I knew I'd find you." Meetra ran over and threw her arms around Revan.  
"It's been a long time." Revan held her friend tight, but then Meetra pulled back with a crinkled nose. "A real long time." She shrugged apologetically.  
"A touching reunion." A sneering voice broke up the happy moment.  
"Lord Scourge!" One of the guards shrieked in terror, but Revan ignored him and swung Meetra behind herself out of instinct. It was completely foolish, as Meetra was a very competent Jedi and Revan was still drugged and unarmed.  
"It's okay." Meetra was laughing. "Scourge is here to help us."  
Revan stood still for several moments before Meetra's words finally got through the haze in her mind, and then she laughed too.  
"So I finally get to learn your name. Scourge. No wonder you didn't want to tell me."  
"Make jokes once we're safely away from here." Scourge rolled his eyes at her.  
"He's right. We need to go." Meetra began to move, but then Revan grabbed her arm.  
"Where's Carth?"  
A knowing smiled played across Meetra's face. "Don't worry, he's waiting for you."  
Revan relaxed slightly, but then noticed Scourge had drawn his lightsaber.  
"What are you doing?"  
"Taking care of the witnesses."  
"No. I promised to protect them." She crossed her arms.  
Scourge looked at her like she was an idiot. "It's going to be hard enough to get out of here without escorting these pathetic excuses for soldiers."  
"I gave them my wo-" She was cut off as the drugs overtook her, and she staggered.  
"What's wrong?" Meetra grabbed her before she could collapse and then lowered her carefully to the ground.  
"They keep me drugged." Revan took a few deep breaths. "I just need a minute." She had been using the Force in a more concentrated way than she had in a long time, and to do so, she must have been holding the drugs at bay subconsciously. Now they were catching up with her and causing an acute overreaction.  
Scourge ripped a medkit off the wall and pulled out a hypodermic filled with green fluid.  
"This will help, but it will take a few minutes." The Sith Lord knelt and injected it into Revan's arm.  
"I have something else. Carth thought it would help, and Bastila gave it to him." Meetra nodded at Scourge, who pulled something wrapped in black fabric from his belt. He handed it to Revan, but she paused.  
"Carth and Bastila are both here, aren't they?" She looked up at Meetra, who nodded. "Of course they are." She smiled faintly and began to unwrap the object.  
She was confronted by the masked helmet she had worn during the Mandalorian Wars and her time as a Sith Lord. In that precise moment, the mask somehow conjured back every single memory she had lost. Billions of images attacked her mind all at once, and with the drugs already affecting her, it was too much. She slumped against the wall, unconscious.

"What's happening?" Scourge looked mildly alarmed.  
"I-I don't know." Meetra quickly checked Revan's pulse as she lay motionless on the floor.  
"Someone's coming." Scourge stood and turned towards the staircase, but then called to the guards, "Ready your blasters, you fools!"  
"Get Revan out of the way," Scourge ordered Meetra, but she didn't argue and just took Revan's body into the open cell.  
The guards had taken their blasters out and were creeping towards the bottom of the staircase when Meetra went to stand by Scourge. She drew her lightsaber from where it had been hidden inside her boot.

Suddenly, a blast of purple lightning assaulted both guards, frying them in an instant.  
Scourge took an involuntary step back.  
Nyriss made her way slowly down the stairs, clutching her lightsaber in one hand and allowing lightning to dance over the other.  
Meetra ignited her lightsaber, ready to fight another Sith Lord, though this one seemed at least as powerful as Traya.  
"What's this?" Nyriss cackled. "Another Jedi?"  
Scourge and Meetra stayed silent.  
"The Imperial Guard will make sure I never leave my stronghold alive, but neither will any of you." She raised her hand and sent out another arc of lightning, but both Meetra and Scourge were fast enough to dodge it.  
Before they could recover, she attacked again. The old woman leapt in between them and attacked with such a ferocity that Scourge had never seen before, and Meetra had only seen from her former mentor.  
Nyriss was successful at knocking Scourge back, and she took the opportunity to attack Meetra with all her fury, forcing the Jedi down on one knee.  
Had Scourge not blasted Nyriss with the Force, Meetra would have fallen right there and then. Something about being in a dancer's outfit had her not fighting her best.  
Unfortunately, both Jedi and Sith were thrown back by a very powerful blast of Force lightning.  
"Did you think I would be as easy to defeat as Xedrix?" Nyriss shouted and raised her lightsaber to finish Scourge off. The air surrounding the old Sith began to crackle and burn as she readied to destroy him.  
"Gaze upon me and see your doom! I am Darth Nyriss, Lord of the Sith. I am the conqueror of Drezzi, the destroyer of Melldia, and a member of the Dark Council!"  
Scourge and Meetra both knew they had no hope of stopping Nyriss at this point. They'd already failed, and now they were going to pay with their lives.

But then Revan emerged from her cell once again. She had pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and now wore her red and gray mask.  
Nyriss let a dozen or more bolts of lightning go towards her enemies, but Revan did not step away. Instead, she stepped forwards, into the path of the lightning.  
The Prodigal Knight held both hands in front of herself, her arms fully extended and at shoulder height. She drew the lightning in like it was a simple exercise and absorbed their power.  
"I am Revan reborn," she said with such power that Nyriss took a step back. "And before me you are nothing."  
Nyriss threw up a Force shield as Revan released her own attack back at her, but the lightning ripped through it and consumed her instantly. A moment later, all that was left was a pile of ash.

Revan grabbed Meetra's arms and pulled her to her feet while Scourge clambered to his feet.  
"We should go." Meetra grabbed onto Revan's arm. "We don't want the Imperial Guard to know you were here."  
Revan nodded slowly and then turned to Scourge.  
Scourge found in unnerving to stare into the faceless mask of Revan, and he realized he was finally beginning to understand the woman he had been studying for years.  
She had just stepped in the way of an attack directed at him and her friend, but not at her own expense. She was sure enough of her own power that she had simply taken in the Force and thrown it out again as though it were nothing.  
Revan had just become intensely more intimidating, and if anyone could defeat the Emperor, it was this woman.  
"This is yours." Scourge dazedly held out her lightsaber.  
Revan took the black hilt with a short nod. "Get us out of here."


	21. Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Scourge jogged through the complex with Meetra and Revan at his heels. They could hear the sounds of the battle still waging, though they did not encounter either side.  
Night had fallen when they finally reached the outside, but the fires that had ignited around Nyriss's stronghold illuminated all the destruction. What had once been a proud and fierce fortress was almost entirely rubble.  
They carefully maneuvered through the carnage to Scourge's speeder, which was completely intact. However, every single other vehicle had been destroyed.  
"There's no way we were that lucky," Revan commented.  
"The Guard must have been watching our arrival. They knew which speeder was mine."  
They climbed into the speeder and Scourge immediately took off. He didn't want to stick around a place where the Imperial Guard was with two Jedi.

As they headed back to the cave, Meetra studied Revan inconspicuously. The mask, which she'd left on, was the face Meetra most associated with Revan. It was the way she had most often seen when they had worked together, as Revan had rarely removed it around other people.  
It had been almost shocking to find Revan in the dungeon. Meetra had seen a woman that had been battered and broken to a point she'd never known was possible. Revan had looked almost like she'd been on the verge of giving up completely, but when she had put on the mask, she was once again the hero Meetra had known all those years ago.  
In a way, it relieved Meetra that Carth had thought to give her the mask. She had a feeling that without it, she and Scourge would be ashes on Nyriss's floor, and who knows what Nyriss would have done to Revan before finally killing her.

They finally reached the cave, and Revan and Meetra got out.  
"You're not coming?" Meetra raised her eyebrows at Scourge.  
"I'm going back to Kaas City. I'll see if I can learn any more details about the attack. If we're lucky, the Emperor has spread his resources too thin, leaving him vulnerable. Now might be-"  
He was cut off by a loud shout of "Revan!"  
The Jedi woman swung around and was immediately pulled into the arms of Carth Onasi.  
"Hey there, beautiful." He gently tugged off her mask and let it clatter to the ground.  
"Hey there, hairless Wookiee." Revan laughed slightly, but Meetra could hear the sob she was hiding.

Scourge finally understood why Carth had been so desperate to get to Revan. Now the two of them were locked in each other's arms, and he was pretty sure they'd been kissing for at least two minutes.  
Atton had come out to stand by Meetra, and now he was surreptitiously wrapping his arm around her shoulders.  
Meetra just smiled and shook her head.  
"Aw, come on. He's the only pilot that gets a kiss?" Atton gestured hopelessly at Carth.  
"Yes."  
That shut him up pretty quickly.

Scourge interrupted with a loud cough and waited until Revan and Carth had finally separated their faces.  
"I hate to interrupt this...touching reunion, but as I was saying, I'm going to find out if the Emperor is vulnerable. Now might be the perfect time to strike against him."  
"Bring back some supplies," Revan instructed. "Food, water, and soap so I can wash the filth of that prison off me."  
Scourge nodded. "I'll be back in a few hours."

Carth took Revan's hand and quickly retrieved her mask from the ground.  
"It's been a while."  
"I know," she said softly as they began to walk back to the cave. "I'm sorry."  
"For what?"  
"For leaving you with a dumb datapad. I just didn't know what to say, you would never have let me go-"  
He held up a hand to silence her. "You're right, I never would have let you go." He paused. "Alone."  
She looked like she was about to say something, but then Atton came up behind them and swung his arms over their shoulders.  
"As much as I'm happy for you two, I really don't need to see you eat each other's faces again, thank you. There's plenty of dark caves you can have all to yourselves if that's what you want."  
Meetra grabbed the back of his shirt and began dragging him back into the cave.  
"Hey, maybe we should get our own cave. Might be fun, you know."  
"No."  
He shut up again.  
Revan raised her eyebrows. "Where'd you all dig him up?"  
"Blame the Exile, he's her problem." Carth shook her head and led Revan into the cave.

The next thing she knew, Revan was being attacked by both Bastila and T3. The little droid was beeping excitedly and spinning in a circle while Bastila practically tackled Revan.  
"It's good to see everyone was okay without me." Revan grinned and managed to shove Bastila away.  
But then everyone went silent, and she looked around, concerned. "What is it? What happened?"  
"You'd better sit down," Atton warned and plopped down.  
"Why?" Revan's expression became guarded.  
"You missed an awful lot, Revan," Bastila said and sat down considerably more gracefully than Atton.  
"What happened?" She crossed her arms, and the way she said it reminded Meetra of the times Revan had been commanding her to do something somewhat...unpleasant.  
"I'll tell you." Meetra frowned. "But Carth and Mical will have to help me."  
Revan raised her eyebrows expectantly.  
"It all started almost a year ago. I was wokee up in a kolto tank on the Peragus mining station..."

When Scourge returned to the cave, he found everyone sitting in a circle. Revan was asking questions with her mask in her lap, and either Meetra, who had changed into Jedi Robes, or Carth were answering.  
"You said Darth Traya called herself Kreia while she was traveling with you, and that the Masters thought she had died in the Mandalorian Wars?" Revan demanded.  
Meetra nodded. "Why?"  
But Revan wasn't paying attention. "Kreia...of course." Then she looked up at the others. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault."  
"What do you mean?" Bastila tilted her head.  
"Kreia was one of my Jedi Masters. Before I disobeyed the Council and joined the war effort, I went to her for guidance. Because I was her student, she was banished from the Order when I fell to the dark side. To find Malachor V and the Trayus Academy, she must have followed my path..."  
Scourge would have been content to continue to hear about Revan's mysterious past, but she had turned to him instead of continuing.  
"What is it?" She could obviously sense something was wrong.  
"It wasn't just Nyriss who was attacked. The Emperor killed them all."  
"Who all?" Atton looked mystified.  
"All twelve members of the Dark Council, even those who weren't part of the conspiracy."  
"How is that possible?" Revan stood. "He attacked a dozen of the most powerful Sith Lords in the seats of their power simultaneously? How many troops does he have?"  
"The Imperial Guard were only unleashed on Nyriss and two others. The Emperor must have assumed they were the ones least likely to answer his summons. The other nine were called together in the hours before the attack to meet with the Emperor at his citadel. None of them left alive."  
"So what's happening now?" Meetra sked.  
"News of the massacre spread quickly. As you would expect, the result was chaos. Thousands are fleeing for their lives, fearing we are on the brink of civil war. Others see an opportunity to strike at rivals weakened by the sudden loss of political allies, and armed platoons are roaming the streets."  
Revan had begun to pace. "How did the Emperor react?"  
"He's declared martial law and imposed a curfew over the entire city. The Guard are enforcing his orders with their typical ruthless efficiency. He also forbade any ship or shuttle to land or leave before he launched his attack, and he shut down all offworld communications."  
"He's quarantined the entire planet." Revan shook her head. "He wants to get everything here back under control before any other worlds hear that he slaughtered the entire Dark Council."  
"You claimed he was mad, but this is shocking," Bastila said. "Thousands or more will die before he is able to restore complete control."  
"The last time I was here on Dromund Kaas," Revan began slowly. "I saw the depths of the Emperor's mind. I saw his madness, and I can promise you that thousands of lives mean absolutely nothing to him."  
Carth looked like he was going to say something, but Scourge got there first. "The last time you were here? Have some of your memories returned?"  
Revan turned to glare at him directly, and she held up her mask. "Seeing this triggered something. I remember everything now." He started to open his mouth again, but she raised her hand. "That does not mean you may ask me about all of my past. I will not be interrogated by you again, in any way."  
Carth studied Revan. That was not something she would have said normally, usually she was much more calm. But interrogation? That would mean...  
He leapt to his feet and pulled out a blaster. "He's the one who did this to you?" He yelled and aimed at Scourge. Bastila stood by him, her double bladed lightsaber igniting.  
"Calm down, please." Revan placed a hand on his arm. "Scourge is our ally now."  
"Allies don't torture allies," he responded through gritted teeth.  
"Revan, we cannot allow someone who has your knowledge to live. It is far too dangerous." Bastila cut in and began to advance towards the Sith Lord.  
"Enough." Bastila felt herself freeze in place, and Revan's hand on Carth's arm became like a death grip. "You're not killing him."  
"He's a Sith Lord," Bastila hissed.  
"You haven't killed every Sith Lord you've ever met, have you?" Revan demanded. "And Carth, since when did you become so insistent on what has happened in the past being important?"  
Carth reluctantly put his blaster away, but even though Bastila could have, she did not move.  
"That was different."  
"How?" Meetra got involved.  
"We needed Revan to defeat Malak."  
"You did more than spare my life, Bastila. You saved it." Revan's hand had begun to go towards her lightsaber.  
"Because it was necessary. We needed you to stop the Sith."  
"Like we need Scourge to stop this Emperor dude." Atton joined in.  
She was silent.  
Revan carefully went to her side and pulled the yellow bladed lightsaber away.  
"Bastila, revenge is not the answer. I saved you from the dark side once because the power seduced you. I don't want to do it again because your rage for what happened to me."  
The other woman nodded slowly ant took her lightsaber back, deactivated it, and hung it back on her belt.  
Revan turned to Scourge. "Let's continue this conversation outside. Meetra, come with us."

Meetra couldn't help but feel like she was back in the Mandalorian Wars again, with Revan putting on her mask and a tall figure standing by her side, all waiting for their 'master' to speak.  
"As I was saying, I remember everything, and I will tell you what information we need. No more." Revan couldn't help but wonder at the change she felt in herself. She felt more powerful, more commanding, and more sure of herself. There was a certain calm that accompanied such surety, but she could also feel the dark side again. However, it wasn't taking away the light. She could feel them both together, running together through her simultaneously. In a way, this was the first time she had ever been absolute about anything. She had been both light and dark, and now she had found the truth between them.  
"Malak and I learned the Sith still survived. We came here to investigate. Posing as mercenaries, we spent months learning everything we could about the Emperor and his people. Even back then he was planning his invasion of the Republic. When Malak and I learned of his preparations, we tried to stop him. We found a member of the Imperial Guard who was willing to sneak us inside the citadel."  
"Impossible," Scourge declared. "The Guard are bound to the Emperor's will at the end of their training by a powerful ritual. They would never betray him!"  
"True, but we didn't know that at the time. We were being led into a trap; the Emperor wanted us to come to him. When we go to his throne room, he was ready and waiting with many members of the Imperial Guard." Her voice grew grim. "We underestimated his power. We didn't even have a chance to fight him. Instead, we were taken prisoner and he broke our wills. He dominated our minds, turning us into puppets to do his bidding. He sent us back to the Republic as the vanguard of his invasion with instructions to report back when all resistance was crushed."  
She paused, remembering her last time on Dromund Kaas, but then continued.  
"But though we has underestimated the Emperor's power, he underestimated us as well. Our wills were stronger than he though; our minds twisted and perverted his instructions until we thought we were acting of our own accord. Malak and I were turned to the dark side, but in doing so we found the strength to block our all memory of the Emperor and the Sith, partially freeing us from his control."  
"But you still called yourselves Sith Lords." Meetra frowned. "You still attacked the Republic and brought it to the verge of collapse before Malak betrayed you and the Jedi captured you. And even after you stopped Malak, the Republic was as vulnerable as it's ever been. Why didn't the Emperor invade then?"  
"He had no idea what had happened. He was waiting for us to report back. When he heard nothing, he assumed we had failed. He returned to his original plans, slowly and carefully building up his strength so that when he finally did invade there would be no chance of defeat." She crossed her arms.

Meetra glanced at Scourge. With Revan saying that the Emperor might actually defeat the Republic if he attacked, Scourge might turn against them. After all, he'd joined them because he hadn't wanted to see the outcome of the Great Hyperspace War happen again.  
"I won't betray you. When I spoke with the Emperor, I briefly touched his mind. What he did on Nathema only hints at the horrors he is capable of unleashing on the galaxy. I truly understand what he has become, and I know that unchecked he will lead us to annihilation. It is inevitable."  
"A good speech, but why should we believe you?" Meetra asked.  
"It's true," Revan said. "When the Emperor finally broke my will, he looked into my mind, and I was able to see the reflection of his own evil. Invading the Republic is only the first step in his plan. He has become obsessed with power and immortality. The dark side is like a cancer inside him; it grows faster than he can feed it. He has consumed an entire world, but he still hungers. His hunger is more than what you described to me of Nihilius's though. He has lived a thousand years, and he is driven by the fear that he will not live thousands more."  
"Everyone is scared of dying." Meetra raised an eyebrow.  
"Not like this. For him, death is not just the end of physical existence. If he dies, he will lose everything. The thought of near infinite power slipping from his grasp has driven him mad. In his twisted mind, the only way to preserve what he has accomplished is to obliterate every potential threat in the entire galaxy."  
"Nathema was just the beginning," Scourge agreed. "He will destroy world after world, his power and madness growing until he alone is left as the Emperor over a lifeless galaxy."  
Meetra's expression turned from mild repulsion to absolute horror.  
"You've been to Nathema. You've felt the void. You know what the Emperor is capable of," Scourge reminded her.  
"She understands." Revan studied Meetra. "That's not it."  
"He's quarantined Dromund Kaas. What if he's preparing to do the same thing here that he did on Nathema?"  
"Is that possible?" Scourge asked. "Nyriss told me the ritual on Nathema took days, if not weeks. And the Emperor had to trick hundreds of other powerful Sith into working with him so he could draw on their power."  
"He's stronger now." Revan had begun walking back to the cave. "But even if it's possible, I don't think he'll go that far. At least not yet. He is too patient, too careful. Dromund Kaas is the heart of his Empire. He has to many valuable resources here to throw it all away. But as soon as he is ready, there is nothing left to stop him from launching his invasion."  
"Do you really mean...?" Meetra jogged to catch up.  
"Yes. With the Dark Council gone for now, there is no one to oppose him with any real power."  
"We don't have much time, then." Scourge caught up to them. "Now is our best chance to strike."  
"I know his tricks and tactics. I can shield my mind from him, and I will show everyone else how to do the same."  
"We should wait until dawn." Scourge nodded. "There will be fewer people out during the day, and the Guard will be resting from patrolling all night."

When they reentered the cave, both Carth and Atton stood expectantly. Everyone looked a little surprised to see Revan wearing her mask again, but nobody said anything.  
"I have a plan, and if anybody argues with it, I'm going to sic HK-47 on them," Revan announced.  
"How did you know we brought him?" Atton asked.  
"I guessed." She shrugged. "Thanks for letting me know though."  
Atton grimaced.  
"So what's the plan?" Carth interceded.  
"We're making our move at dawn, but we're going to be doing it in groups. Carth, Tee-Three, you two will head back to whatever ship you all brought and get ready to meet up with us by the citadel."  
Carth didn't look happy, but he didn't complain. That would give him the chance to call Dodonna and Canderous, who had their fleets waiting.  
"Scourge, Atton, and Mical will be in the citadel, outside the throne room. You three will wait for the Imperial Guard and stop them from providing reinforcements to the Emperor."  
Mical and Scourge nodded, but Atton raised his hand.  
"What is it, Atton?"  
"Why are you sending Carth to the ship and not keeping him and sending me?"  
"Because you're a Jedi and you'll be able to shield your mind from the Emperor, and Carth will not."  
"But he's Force sensitive too."  
Revan turned to Carth. "Since when?"  
He shrugged. "Meetra just told me when we went to Nathema. I'm not enough to be a Jedi, but it helps."  
She nodded. "That's good, but we're still not changing our plans. Bastila, Meetra, and I will confront the Emperor. If we fail, Scourge, Atton, and Mical will take our place. Hopefully that will work, but whatever you do, do not allow yourself to be captured. Death is a better option. Now, everyone, close your eyes."  
Atton looked skeptical, but he did as she said when Meetra did. Nobody else even hesitated.  
"Reach out to the Force. Feel it flow through you..." Revan continued to instruct them.


	22. What if this Storm Ends?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Revan was standing outside the cave, her cloak billowing in the wind. It had begun to rain, but she didn't mind. If she concentrated, she thought she could hear the sounds of rioting coming from the city.  
It had been a long time since she'd been able to think with a clear mind, and she was just now feeling completely free of the drugs. Her plan was a good one, but she couldn't help but wonder if she was leading all these people that had come to save her to their deaths. If she failed again before the Emperor, then they would fail too. They had placed all their trust in her, but she was growing unsure of herself. For a while after regaining all her memories, she had been completely calm and self assured. Now though, doubt was once again a part of her, as it always had been before a battle.  
A vision flashed before her eyes:

Meetra and Bastila lay behind her, dead. The Emperor was standing in front of her, holding out a hand, palm up.  
"Join me. This time I know your true strength. This time you will stand by my side. Imagine, Revan, the power. We can rebuild the Star Forge and reclaim what is rightfully yours. The galaxy will bow before you."  
As vision-Revan reached out to take the Emperor's hand, a victorious smile broke across his face.  
But then the doors swung open, and she heard Atton and Mical both scream. Scourge stared in horror.  
Vision-Revan raised her hands and sent a blast of Force lightning so powerful they were reduced to ashes in less than a second. Then she turned to the Emperor and relished in the horror on his face.  
"Why? I can give you everything-"  
"I can take everything for myself, and you were the one to show me the true power of the dark side. I'm only repaying the favor."  
Vision-Revan raised her hands again and laughed as the Emperor tried and failed to defend himself from her Force Storm.

Another vision came:

The Emperor lay dead at her feet, but Bastila and Meetra had fallen too, though Revan couldn't tell if they were dead or alive. This vision-Revan was mortally wounded, a huge wound on her side allowing blood to flow out and stain the floor. 

An again:

The Emperor was standing over Bastila, Meetra, and Revan. The other two were dead, and vision-Revan was fading. He knelt and placed a hand on her forehead and began to use some sort of sorcery to keep her alive and bind her to him as some sort of battery for greater access into the Force.

The visions continued to come, and Revan could only watch as she saw so many versions of either her friends dying, the Emperor being destroyed, or her own demise.

She shivered when they finally stopped. There was no way to tell what would happen in only a few hours, and that haunted her. Everyone else was sleeping or meditating, and she knew she should have been too, but there was no way she would be able to rest her mind after this.  
The only thing she could be sure of was that tomorrow held death for someone, and she was not going to let it be anyone but the Emperor or herself. If a sacrifice had to be made to defeat the Sith, then she should be it. The sort of power she felt was only known by the Emperor, and in a way, they balanced each other. She did not want to die, but she wasn't sure she could live when the Emperor died.  
He was the embodiment of the Void's power, and by the same thoughts, she was the embodiment of the Force's power. He felt the emptiness while she felt both the light side and the dark side.  
She hoped there would be a way for the Force to exist without the Void, but she couldn't be sure.

"Bad dreams?" A voice she would never be able to cherish enough came from behind her, so she turned.  
"Not even. I can't sleep."  
Carth came up and put his arms around her, making her feel safer immediately. She buried her face in his shoulder and held onto him like he was what was her gravity.  
"What's wrong, Revan?"  
"Tomorrow will decide everything, and I can't help but worry that it will go wrong."  
"Don't worry. You're powerful enough to stop the Emperor."  
"I wasn't last time. Carth, last time I faced him, my best friend and I were tortured until we broke and then we were transformed into something awful. I don't want that for any of you." She pulled back slightly and looked up at him.  
His eyes were full of concern. "Your eyes look different. They look...haunted."  
She smiled slightly. "Of course they do. Eyes are the windows to the soul."  
"Why would yours be haunted?" He whispered.  
"They're not haunted, it's just dark inside."  
"Well then, let me give you some light." He pressed his lips to hers.

 

Atton sat moodily at the mouth of the cave. Really, if Revan was going to be up, he didn't need to be on guard duty.   
And look, Carth was joining her.  
Why did he need to be awake if two other people were?  
He watched as they hugged for several minutes, and then they kissed. Jealousy welled up inside him, but not for kissing either one of them. He just wanted that kind of relationship with Meetra. Sure, they were 'together', but they'd kissed a total of once or twice. When he looked at Revan and Carth, he saw a couple who completely trusted each other and really belonged together. Sure, he and Meetra trusted each other and of course they belonged together. He didn't get what they were missing that paranoid Admiral Onasi and crazy former Sith Lord Revan had.  
Maybe they weren't missing anything. Those two had been 'together' for years, and he and Meetra had been 'together' for only a few months. Maybe they'd get there soon. He hoped.  
As if she was reading his mind, Meetra popped up next to him and sat down.  
He reached over and took her hand, ready to make his move.  
"If we die tomorrow, I want you to know-"  
"We're not going to die."  
"But if we do-"  
"We're not going to." Meetra shook her head.  
"How can you be so sure?"  
"Because Revan and I are going to kill the Emperor and you're going to be fine against the Imperial Guard. Just remember what I've taught you, and you'll do fine against the Imperial Guard. You're a Jedi Knight now."  
He nodded.  
"And besides, Carth Onasi shouldn't be the only pilot to get to kiss a Jedi woman that much." She grinned as his head snapped back in her direction.  
"Are you serious?" Atton couldn't believe what he was hearing. Meetra wanted to be really 'together' and not just together.  
"Yep."  
"You're not just mad at Mical or something?"  
"No." She laughed. "Now kiss me, idiot."

Bastila, Mical, T3, and Scourge were all sitting at the back of the cave. They had been sleeping or meditating, but then Meetra and Atton had been loud and woken them up. Now they were all watching the others. Mical was looking slightly like a kicked puppy, and Bastila found that funny for some reason. T3 was running diagnostics, so he was boring. Scourge was looking between Atton and Meetra's forms to the outlines of Revan and Carth outside.  
"I didn't know Jedi were allowed to have relationships."  
"They aren't," Bastila replied. "But for Revan, I believe that being with Carth helped keep her from the dark side during our journey to defeat Darth Malak."  
"Meetra was the Jedi Exile and Atton was just a pilot when they met, so the rules of being Jedi did not apply to them," Mical added. Bastila was surprised to hear that he was okay with them being together, as he obviously loved Meetra. She respected that though, he just wanted her to be happy, and he knew she would be happier with Atton.  
"Why are they kissing right there?" Scourge's face was priceless, and Bastila rather wished she had a holo recorder.  
"We should all go back to sleep or meditate. We have a very big day ahead of us." Bastila stood and went back to her sleeping bag. Mical followed suit, and T3 shut down.  
Scourge kept staring in revulsion, knowing there was no way he would get any sleep or any meditation with that kind of thing going on right in front of him.

Despite what he had thought, exhaustion overcame Scourge and he fell asleep. However, almost immediately he began to dream. In his dream, the Emperor was standing over Bastila, Meetra, and Revan. Revan was fading, and her two companions were obviously dead. The Emperor knelt and placed a hand on Revan's forehead and began to use sorcery to keep her alive and bind her to him for greater access into the Force. The doors burst open to reveal Atton, Mical, and Scourge, but the Emperor was too powerful now. All three fell fast, leaving only Revan breathing, but she was frozen in some sort of coma.

Scourge sat up straight and rubbed his eyes. His heart was pounding as he looked around the cave. Meetra, Mical, Bastila, and Atton had formed some sort of meditation group. Revan was speaking quietly to Carth and T3, but then she hugged Carth and he and the droid left.  
Scourge was fairly sure he'd just had a Force vision, and one that obviously showed the absolute failure of this group. If he warned the others though, they might simply think it was a ploy to get them away from the Emperor. They might even just kill him.  
He needed to talk to someone, so he got up and went to where Revan was standing.

"May I speak with you?"  
The voice of the Sith Lord startled Revan, but she nodded. "Of course."  
"I want to know more about the Force. I want to understand it as you do."  
She smiled slightly. "And now is the perfect time to do this."  
"This might be our last chance. I've been thinking about something you said to me last time we spoke in your cell."  
"What is that?"  
"You knew Carth and Meetra were coming to rescue because the Force had given you a vision."  
"Actually, I was bluffing. That was a complete lie in the hope you might think some dream about me would be a vision and help me escape yourself."  
"Is that how it happens?" Scourge frowned at her confession. "They come to you in your dreams."  
"No. A Force vision is more powerful than any dream. There is an intensity that jumps out at you, and the details do not fade." She turned to face him and her eyes narrowed. "What have you seen?"  
"Nothing." But his answer was too hasty, and she just rolled her eyes.  
"Tell me, or we'll just tie you up and leave you here for a while."  
He hesitated. Would Revan really like the answer to this question? Her fate seemed like it would be the worst of all, but at this point there was no hiding it from her.  
"I had a vision while I was sleeping. In it, you, Meetra, and Bastila were on the floor of the throne room. You were the only one alive, but you were dying. The Emperor used some sorcery on you, and then he killed Atton, Mical, and me with your power."  
She was silent, and he was afraid she might just decide to kill him right there.  
"That is one option, yes. But it is only one among many."  
"How do you know this?" He stared at her, shocked by the calm in her voice.  
"Lord Scourge, one thing you must understand about me is that I've been strategizing and planning for many years. I understand when there are many possibilities, and sometimes I even see them before a battle." She was getting irritated, he could sense it.  
"Do you mean you've had this vision too?"  
"Among others, yes."   
"What others?"  
She sighed. "I'm not going to stand here and describe to you each and every outcome of today. All you need to know is that your vision is not the future for certain, and that it should only help to guide you in a way that will avoid all our deaths."  
"Doesn't it terrify you that it is an option?"  
"No. There was a time that it did scare me, but that was a long time ago."  
"How did you get over your fear?"  
She grinned. "An old friend told me to stop worrying and get my butt on the battlefield."  
"Who was that? Meetra?"  
"Malak, back when we were friends."  
Scourge didn't know what to say then. If Revan was so sure that they wouldn't die, then maybe he should let it go.  
"You should join the others. We have a couple hours before we need to go." Revan gestured at the group.  
"What about you?"  
"I have my own ways of preparing for a battle." She pulled her mask out of her robes and waved it at him.  
He did as she said and took a seat between Atton and Bastila, joining their meditation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess Revan has two sides: the sassy/commanding side she uses on other people, and the worried/unsure side she only lets Carth and maybe Canderous see.  
> And the title is from the new Snow Patrol song The Lightning Strike which totally fits this chapter


	23. Defeat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Revan, Meetra, Scourge, Atton, Mical, and Bastila all piled into Scourge's speeder. Everyone was silent, as though they were all afraid that speaking would disrupt someone's concentration.  
At least, they were silent until someone decided he didn't like silence.  
"So, we're going to stop the Sith Emperor. Fun, right?" Atton glanced around.  
"I fail to see how it is fun." Bastila frowned. "Killing should never be fun for a Jedi."  
"You know what," he grumbled. "I'm not going to make a joke ever again."  
"We all know that's not true." Meetra grinned, but then planted a kiss on his cheek. "I like your jokes though."  
He smiled triumphantly at Bastila, who shrugged.  
Revan turned from the front passenger seat to look at everyone, though how anyone could see wearing that mask Atton didn't understand.  
"Okay everybody, we all know what to do, right?"  
"No, I completely forgot. I think I'm supposed to go find the cantina, but that's probably wrong." Atton rolled his eyes.  
Revan just stared at him.  
"I thought you said you were not going to joke anymore." Mical sighed.  
"Too late." Atton leaned back and crossed his arms with a smirk.  
"We are so dead," Revan mumbled as she turned to face the front again.

"I can't bring the speeder in too close," Scourge informed them as he began to land on the outskirts of the city. "They might have set up ion cannons to shoot down any unauthorized vehicles."  
Atton whistled. "That's crazy."  
They all climbed out, which mostly involved Atton shoving Mical back so he could get out first and Bastila complaining about men.  
Revan and Scourge led the way through the empty streets. Occasionally, they'd come across a group of Imperial Guards, but they were very easily evaded for the group of five Jedi and a Sith.   
As they got closer and closer to the citadel, the signs of the chaos of the night before became more prominent. Windows were shattered, buildings were burned, the streets were cratered and covered with bodies. Even Atton didn't have anything to say then.

When they finally reached the citadel, there were no guards at the entrance.  
"If we run into anyone, let me do the talking," Scourge relayed quietly throughout the group.  
They were only a few meters away from the doors when they swung open and several Imperial Guards appeared, all carrying blasters and electrostaffs.  
"You are in violation of the Imperial curfew. Surrender your weapons and you will be escorted to a nearby prison facility."  
Atton almost snorted, but just barely managed to keep it in.  
"You fool!" Scourge spat at the speaker. "Do you know who I am?"  
"Only those explicitly authorized by the Emperor are permitted on the streets."  
"I need no authorization! I am Lord Scourge, and I demand a meeting with the Emperor."  
Obviously the guards were very familiar with the name. They had no doubt been informed of who it was who had been the catalyst for the slaughter of the Dark Council.  
"We will escort you to him, but the others must wait here."  
"No. They will come with me to speak with the Emperor in person."  
The soldier seemed like he was going to deny Scourge, so Revan prepared to start the battle right then and there...but then the soldier changed his mind.  
"Follow me. I'll ask the captain to meet us outside the throne room. She will decide whether to allow this."  
Revan was impressed. One of them must have been using the Force to influence the man's decision just enough, and she guessed it was Meetra. Meetra had always been fairly good with people.  
They were led through a maze of hallways that Revan remembered very well. This was the same route she and Malak had been led down before they were caught.  
As they walked, Revan began to think of her last battle with the Emperor, though it really couldn't have been called a battle. Malak had hung back to handle the Imperial Guards that had ambushed them while she had charged the Emperor. That had been her first mistake, they would have lasted longer if they had worked together. She had not been prepared to take on the Emperor at that time, she'd been rash and arrogant after defeating Mandalore the Ultimate. She could not have known the power of the Emperor at the time, and now the Emperor could not know her power. Even so, she would still probably not be able to defeat the man alone, but she had Meetra and Bastila with her. Both women were also very powerful. Meetra had defeated three extremely powerful Sith Lords already, and Bastila had almost defeated Revan twice.

When they reached the huge double doors, Revan felt a chill spread through her. She couldn't help but remember what lay beyond.  
"Where is your captain?" Scourge demanded.  
"She is coming."  
"I will not be kept waiting! I demand you open these doors immediately!"  
The soldier hesitated, but then gestured for two of the others to do as Scourge commanded.  
This was when she, Meetra, and Bastila would break off. The boys would shut the doors behind them and take care of any reinforcements until the Emperor was dead.  
But then a female voice rang through the hall. "What is going on here?"  
The soldiers all froze.  
"Captain Yarri." The one who'd led them here snapped into a salute. "Lord Scourge demands another meeting with the Emperor."  
Revan froze too. Yarri was the guard who had led Malak and her into the Emperor's trap.  
"This is not acceptable, Lord Scourge." Her boots clacked against the floor as she approached. "If you wish to speak to the Emperor, you must do so alone."  
"I do not take orders from you, Captain." No one seemed to notice Revan's predicament.  
"In the citadel you do. You other five, step away."  
Revan felt a hand on her shoulder as one of the soldiers tried to shove her clear of the entrance.  
She slapped it away and turned to face the rest of the people there.  
Yarri was standing beside Scourge, and her eyes went wide when she saw the unmistakable gray and red mask.  
"Assassins! Kill them all!"  
Revan lashed out with a Force Wave, throwing the guards back while Meetra and Bastila ripped the doors open. Alarms began to ringas the three charged into the throne room while Atton and Mical shut the doors and joined Scourge in fighting the Guard.   
The three women drew their lightsabers and ignited them, the green, blue, and yellow illuminating the room.  
"Revan. I did not expect you to return." The Emperor rose to his feet and stepped forwards to face them.  
She didn't reply and just charged forwards.

Scourge attacked Captain Yarri immediately, forcing her back into a defensive position with her electrostaff spinning to block his lightsaber.  
Atton and Mical seemed to be holding their own as several more members of the Imperial Guard came charging around the corner, as both men were doing very well with their own lightsabers. Scourge hadn't expected to see the chaotic style coming from Mical and the more disciplined fighting coming from Atton.   
But then Yarri's blade nearly caught him in the face, and he realized he really needed to focus.

Carth and T3 landed Meetra's speeder at the Ebon Hawk. They'd contacted Dodonna and Canderous during their journey and were pleased to see signs of both fleets descending on Dromund Kaas.  
Except then Carth saw the Republic shuttle sitting next to his ship with Dustil, Mission, Jolee, Zaalbar, and two Jedi women standing around outside it.  
"What the hell is going on here?" He demanded.  
"Relax, Dad. We're here to help." Dustil smiled.  
"Where's Revan?" Mission looked around and Zaalbar growled in agreement.  
"Fighting the Emperor, but-"  
Jolee cut him off. "Then we need to go help! Get in that ship and get us there!"  
Carth stared for a moment before asking, "Who even are you two?"  
"I'm Mira." The red-head stuck took Carth's hand and gave it a solid shake.  
"I am Visas Marr, and we are here to help as well."  
"Good for you." Carth looked around, rather dazed.  
"Are we going or what?" Mission demanded.  
"Uh, yeah." Carth opened the Ebon Hawk and watched as all the others piled in.   
Today was going to be an interesting day.

At the last possible moment, the Emperor released a wave of energy that caught Revan directly in the chest, but left both Meetra and Bastila standing. The other women kept charging, while Revan twisted in midair so she was able to roll with the impact when she landed.  
Bastila immediately engaged in a flurry with her lightsaber, but it was blocked by a blood red blade that seemingly appeared in the Emperor's hand. Meetra took her chance to attack from the other side, but then Revan saw those two go flying over her head.  
She stood and reached out to the Force, allowing both sides to flow through her and give her power. Then she released it in the purest form she could.  
There was a flash of light between her and the Emperor, throwing him back and causing her to stagger.  
Revan took off towards the heap on the floor that was the Emperor, ready to end it.  
But then the man spun to one knee and released a blast of lightning directly at her. She was able to bring her green blade up before it hit, but she was stopped by the force of the impact.  
Several more bolts were thrown at her and over her shoulders, so she assumed Meetra and Bastila were back on their feet.  
She dodged and blocked some, but then one went flying back over her left shoulder. She glanced back to see Meetra looking failry triumphant at having deflected it back at the Emperor.  
He was thrown off his feet again, and he let loose a hiss of pure hatred. He clearly hadn't been expecting this kind of resistance.

Revan began to charge again, but out of nowhere the Emperor let loose the sort of thing she'd done to Nyriss.  
The attack caught her full in the chest and she was thrown to the floor, her body engulfed in agony. She could feel the electricity pouring through her and burning her body where it was not protected well enough. She screamed as the attack continued.

But then it stopped, and she attempted to regain her breath. Revan looked up just enough to see Meetra spinning into an attack with Bastila by her side.  
She tried to rise to help them, but her body refused to respond for several moments. 

Meetra's heart had stopped when she saw Revan go down. There was no way Revan could last for more than a few seconds with that amount of power being used to attack her, so Meetra flew into action.  
She Force leapt as far as she could, right over Revan and the lightning. Then she charged, swinging her lightsaber into a deadly arc that the Emperor had to stop his attack on Revan to block. Meetra sensed Bastila joining her a second later.  
Revan suddenly joined them, her lightsaber leaping back into her hand from where it had fallen.  
The Emperor stepped back to regard them, realizing how little his chance was of walking away.  
"Revan..." She stopped. "Join me. This time I know your true strength. This time you will stand by my side. Imagine, Revan, the power. We can rebuild the Star Forge and reclaim what is rightfully yours. The galaxy will bow before you."  
She couldn't believe what she was hearing. The exact words from her vision, except the context was completely different. Meetra and Bastila were alive. It was the Emperor who was about to die.  
And that was when she realized his true desperation.  
"To think," she began, "that I'd ever join you. Now I know you're insane."  
A sneer twisted his face. "I offer you the galaxy and you deny it. You are a fool, Revan. Die now." He opened his arms wide, releasing a Force Wave much more powerful than any Revan, Meetra, or Bastila had ever conjured up.

Revan managed to brace herself just in time, but she was distracted by the forms of Meetra and Bastila flying by her. The other two women slammed into the far wall and were held there by the powerful blast.  
Revan gritted her teeth and tried to take a step towards the Emperor, but only slid a few feet back. There was no way she could defeat him without the other two Jedi.  
But then they were helping her. She could feel both other women aiding her through the Force and backing her power with theirs. Her limbs no longer felt like falling off, and she knew she had a chance now.  
She reached out to them and sent a silent thank you before stepping forwards, the blasting winds no longer affecting her.  
The Emperor's face grew shocked as she continued to advance, despite his attempts to knock her back.  
The winds stopped when she was directly in front of him.  
"Revan, please..." Was he really begging? How disgusting.  
"You were the one to show me the dark side, and now you want mercy. That's hypocritical, Emperor." She stabbed her lightsaber right through his heart, turned, and began walking to Bastila to help her to her feet. But before she could reach her friend, another blast of powerful lightning hit her in the back and sent her sprawling.

The Emperor was collapsing, but he obviously was not going to let Revan live if he died. Meetra stood and threw her lightsaber out of pure desperation, not even sure what she was aiming at. Somehow, the cyan blade found its way right through the Emperor's skull, cutting off his attack on Revan forever.  
Meetra breathed a sigh of relief before rushing to Revan's side.  
Bastila was kneeling by her and gently taking off the mask. Revan's breathing was shallow, and she was badly burned. Meetra didn't know how much longer she'd last.  
"Come on, we need to get out of here." She hauled one of Revan's arms over her shoulders and motioned for Bastila to do the same. She then reached out to Atton and Mical, letting them know it was okay to open the doors.  
The huge durasteel doors opened almost immediately, and Atton rushed in. The relief that surrounded him was tangible, and Meetra smiled despite herself.  
Scourge was after him, but the Sith Lord looked between Revan and the fallen Emperor before saying, "Will she live?"  
"It is unsure," Bastila replied.  
"I can try to heal her, but we need to get out of the citadel." Mical trailed in last.  
"Right. Scourge, can you carry her?" Meetra held out Revan, who Scourge promptly slung over his shoulder.  
"Let's go." Meetra drew her lightsaber again and led the way back into Kaas City.


	24. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Carth decided he couldn't stand the group piled in the Ebon Hawk by the time he brought it down in front of the citadel, which wasn't exactly easy. With the Republic waging the space battle and Mandalorians on the ground, Dromund Kaas was in total chaos. Basilisks were chasing Sith around or Sith were chasing Basilisks, Carth couldn't tell. And at this point, he didn't care.  
Where was Revan?

Meetra swung the doors to the citadel open and gaped at the insanity that was revealed. Mandalorians and Sith were running amok, killing each other brutally. The Ebon Hawk was sitting amony the madness  
"What the..." Atton stared. "It's like the Mandalorian Wars, but crazier!"  
Meetra could only nod, but then she turned to study the face of their resident Sith Lord.  
Scourge was watching the chaos with a raised eyebrow, but she sensed no obvious hostility.  
"You assume I will attack you." He turned to her.  
She shrugged, but Atton nodded.  
"You are a Sith," Bastila pointed out.  
"This is only Dromund Kaas. You do not know the entire Empire. The Sith will survie." He sounded confident.  
"Then give us Revan and go do...whatever it is Sith Lords do when their planet is being attacked." Meetra moved to take Revan, and Scourge handed her over with no hesitation.  
"I'm sure we'll meet again someday, Exile." Scourge promptly turned and charged off into a side street, avoiding Mandalorians as he went.  
"I don't doubt that," Meetra muttered.

 

"Get us out of here!" Atton came charging into the cockpit, startling Carth.  
"What happened?" He demanded as he readied the Ebon Hawk for departure.  
"Meetra, Revan, and Bastila defeated the Emperor and Scourge took off." Atton obviously wasn't saying something, but Carth decided he'd figure it out later.  
"Tell Revan to take the turret. We're going to need her up there before this is over." Carth frowned as the ship lifted off.  
"Uh...sure." Atton stood, walked to the entrance, turned as though he wanted to say something, but then walked away.  
Carth shook his head. What a weird kid.

Mission had gone pale when Meetra and Bastila brought Revan in.  
"Is she going to be okay?" The Twi'lek who wasn't a kid any more followed them to the medical station, where Jolee was waiting.  
Meetra just shrugged before leaving, but Bastila stayed. Jolee was grumbling something about Sith and their lightning, but then a blind Jedi healer came in and everything got too cramped so Mission went to find Dustil. She needed to tell Carth about Revan, but then she ran into some brown haired Jedi.  
"Who're you?" She crossed her arms.  
"I'm Atton." He glanced at her, distracted.  
"I'm Mission. Nice to meet you."   
"Yeah, whatever."  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
"Hey," He obviously didn't hear her. "Can you get the turret?"  
No!" She held up her hands. "Revan never let me try it."  
"Of course not," he grumbled.  
"Why is it such a big deal?"  
"It's, uh, nothing." He scratched the back of his head and then tried to maneuver his way around her.  
She elbowed him in the stomach before he could get by her. "Nuh uh, big boy. Now tell me what's up."  
He was doubled over, coughing, for several seconds before he looked up again. "What did I ever do to you?"  
"Tell me," she commanded.  
"Fine, fine. Calm down." He stood straight again. "Admiral Paranoid back there told me to tell Revan to get in the turret, but as you know, she's in no condition to do so."  
"And you don't want to tell Carth how Revan is," Mission finished with a grimace.  
Atton nodded.  
"I'll find Dustil. He knows how to use a turret, I think." And with that, she breezed by Atton, leaving him to rub his stomach.

"I don't know, Mish." Dustil frowned.  
"Come on, you know your dad would be screwed up if we told him about Revan."  
"It's not that."  
"Then what is it?" Mission crossed her arms again.  
"I'm not very good with a turret. Dad would know it wasn't Revan."  
"What's this about a turret?" The red-head Jedi they'd never actually gotten the name of came around the corner.  
"Can you use it?" Mission turned to her.  
"Sure, kid."  
"I ain't no kid. I'm eighteen now." Mission gestured for the Jedi to climb the ladder to the turret. "And what's your name?"  
"Mira." The woman didn't say anything else and just began to climb the ladder.  
"Well, that fixes that." Mission shot a cocky grin at Dustil, who grinned back and shook his head.

Atton jogged back into the cockpit.   
"Is the turret operational?" Carth looked like he was about to blow something.  
"Yeah, yeah, I handled it. Now let's go." Atton slid into his chair.  
"That doesn't look good." Carth pointed ahead at what looked to be an intense space battle between the Republic and the Sith Empire.  
"No, I think it looks great. I can't wait to get involved."  
Carth glared at his copilot, but then Meetra came in and bopped him on the head.  
"As much as I like your jokes, we need to concentrate right now." They exchanged a look.  
"Right. I'll try to contact that Republic fleet." Atton's hands began flying over the controls.  
Meetra stepped over beside him and frowned. It would be a sick joke if they'd come this far and done this much just to die in a space battle.  
"Got it! Republic fleet, this is Jedi Knight Atton Rand aboard the Ebon Hawk. I have Admiral Carth Onasi and several Jedi with me, so any help out here would be nice."  
Meetra leaned over and added, "This is Meetra Surik. We need to land on one of the larger ships as we have a wounded passenger."  
"Wait, who's wounded?" Meetra waved Carth's question off.  
"Ebon Hawk, this is Admiral Dodonna. You may land on our flagship. Transmitting coordinates now. We'll have a medical team ready."  
"Thank you, Admiral." Meetra flicked off the comm unit as Atton plugged in the coordinates.  
"Think you can get us there?" Atton asked.  
"Of course. I've been piloting this ship longer than you have, kid." Carth grinned over at him. Atton just rolled his eyes.

Carth actually did pilot the ship really well, better than Atton could have, though the Jedi would never admit it. Mira did a decent job in the turret, enough so that nobody suspected anything. Still, it was a stressful fifteen minutes of weaving through Sith ships before they landed in the hangar of the Republic flagship.  
Carth stood. "So, who's wounded?"  
"You'll see." Atton took off at a jog. He really did not want to be in the room when Carth found out.  
Meetra rolled her eyes, but also jogged.  
"What is with them?" Carth shook his head and followed, but he stopped by the ramp.  
Jolee and Mical were holding a limp form between them. Carth could feel his stomach drop as he shoved Mical away and scooped Revan into his arms. He didn't recall walking down the ramp to catch up with them.  
Revan's face was somewhat burned, but it was the paleness that scared him the most. If she died now, after all this time away and finally being reunited...  
No, she wouldn't die. She couldn't.  
He felt the medical team take her from him, but he stood still, unable to think of anything beyond his fear for Revan's life.   
It was sick, that Morgana would die in his arms because of Revan's apprentice, and now Revan might die because the man who had turned her into a Sith Lord.   
There was a hand tugging at his elbow.  
"Hey, Carth, come on. We'll wait for Revan to wake up, okay?" Mission's blue face popped up in front of him.  
"Please Dad." Dustil's face joined hers, and Carth nodded.

Meetra watched from the ramp as the Twi'lek and other Jedi Knight led Carth after Revan. She couldn't help but feel worried for her mentor, but she was fairly sure that Revan would make it. Bastila, however, looked very concerned.  
"You can go join them, you know."  
Bastila shook her head. "It wouldn't be right. They're a family."  
"Oh, shut up." Jolee came over and grabbed her elbow. He was gripping Zaalbar's elbow with his other hand. "We're a part of Revan's screwed up family too." He marched them off with T3 rolling at his heels and HK-47 stomping by.  
"Who turned the assassin droid on?" Atton complained, and Meetra grinned.  
"You should not complain, the assassin droid has saved your life on occasion." Visas suddenly appeared, frightening Atton in the process.  
"That doesn't make it any less annoying." Mira came over to stand by Meetra. 

"Welcome aboard, General." The familiar voice startled Meetra, but then she grinned.   
"Thanks for the welcome, Bao-dur." She looked around, suddenly realizing something as Mical joined them as well. "You know what?"  
"What?" Atton asked.  
"We've got our own family too." She looped her arm through Atton's.  
"And it's just as screwed up as Revan's," Mira muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cheesy, I know. Wait until the Epilogue


	25. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

It had been a week since the Battle of Dromund Kaas.  
A week since Republic victory, at least on that world.  
A week since the Sith Emperor had fallen.  
A week since Revan had opened her eyes.

Jolee and Mical, both accomplished healers, said there wasn't all that much wrong with her. Sure, the burn trauma knocked her out for a while, but it shouldn't have affected her for this long. Something had happened inside Revan's head.   
Everyone kept saying it was only a matter of time before she woke up.  
Carth wasn't so sure.  
If she could wake up, why didn't she?  
Wouldn't she want to be with him?

That wasn't the issue though, and he knew it. Of course Revan would wake up if she could. It had to be something else, some dark side sorcery none of the Jedi were equipped to find or fix. In a way, he resented them in a way he hadn't since Revan's lost memories. When Meetra Surik had become the new leader of the order, Carth had thought that maybe things were looking up for the Jedi. But now...now he just wasn't so sure.  
He'd come to most of the new Jedi as good. Especially Atton, but he'd never admit that to the younger man.  
It was just that, if they couldn't fix Revan, then what was the point of them?

Meetra Surik, former Jedi Exile and current Grand Master of the Jedi Order, was scared. She was sitting on her bunk in the Ebon Hawk, wondering what to do next.  
The Republic was at war, and everyone was looking to her for the answers. She’d saved the galaxy from the Sith once before, and people still remembered her heroics from the Mandalorian Wars. That all seemed so long ago to her. Through both previous wars she’d had someone to guide her. Now Kreia was dead and Revan may as well have been.  
The entire Republic was counting on her, and she just wasn’t sure she could do it.

An arm wrapped around her shoulders, making her jump, but it was just Atton. She relaxed a bit and leaned closer to him, enjoying his warmth both physically and in the Force.  
“What’s up?” His voice broke the silence only moments later.  
“Atton…” Instead of answering, Meetra traced the ridges of his jacket and sighed.  
“Hey, I may not be the best Jedi Knight who ever lived, but even I can tell when something’s wrong.” His chocolate brown eyes locked on her icy ones and held her gaze. “Tell me, or I’ll go find that blue chick to elbow you in the stomach until you open up.”  
That drew a small laugh, and she nodded.  
“Okay, okay. I’m just worried about the war.”  
He nodded sympathetically, but then, in typical Atton style, said, “If you weren’t, that would probably be a sign I should run screaming.”  
She poked him hard in the ribs. “Come on, you have no idea what it’s like to-“  
“To have so many people looking to you for guidance?” He shook his head. “No, I don’t. But I do know you can do it. Leading an army for you isn’t like it is for Revan. You’re not a born warrior.”   
Atton pulled her closer so that their lips were almost touching.  
“You’re a born leader, and that’s just as good.”  
A smile flitted across her face, and she leaned closer, allowing herself this moment with Atton.  
She would need his support in the months to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the cheesy ending I had planned, but hey, now I can do a sequel!


End file.
